Growing up is Mandatory
by UrbanNightingale
Summary: High school is over, and the boys are off to college. It's finally time for Tweek to learn to stand on his own, and not rely on his boyfriend for everything. Growing up sucks, but sadly it's mandatory. Creek, CraigxTweek, Style subplot
1. Decisions

CHAPTER ONE

Whistlin' Willy's was brimming with a strange mix of excitement and nostalgia. It was a night for celebrating. It was a night for goodbyes. For so long, everyone had gazed longingly at the light at the end of the tunnel that was high school. Now it was finally over. It was safe to say that the town of South Park held very little for restless young souls, and soon the exodus would begin. But not all would be heading the same way.

That night everyone had gathered at Willy's to say their final goodbyes to the town, and to each other. Tweek sat quietly among his friends without ever fully joining the conversation. He was too busy memorizing the faces he wouldn't see on a daily basis anymore.

"Look, I'm not saying I'm not gonna miss you," Token told Clyde with a smirk. "I'm just saying I'll be able to cut my budget for spearmint gum in half."

Clyde punched him with an indignant whine that somehow sounded the same then as it had when he was eight. In the seat next to Tweek's, Craig laughed at the exchange. The arm he was casually resting on Tweek's shoulder shook his whole frame with every chuckle. Tweek smiled at the sensation. He knew that was something he wouldn't be saying goodbye to that night at least.

"Dude, you're gonna miss me so much, I'll expect the first phone call from you before you even unpack," Clyde said and swallowed his remaining slice of pizza in a single, impressive gulp.

"Absolutely," Token said sarcastically. " I'm gonna be so upset you're not there, I totally won't even be able to enjoy my time on the beach with half naked chicks in bikinis."

While Clyde had opted for Colorado State University like Tweek and Craig, Token had decided that he was done with the cold climate of Colorado and had chosen a college in southern California. They'd joked about it extensively, but a knot had started to form in their stomachs as the days went by and they got closer and closer to the imminent farewell.

"But if you behave for the rest of tonight, I might graciously decide to answer your call - which I'm sure will actually come before I get a chance to unpack my swimming trunks," Token said.

Clyde snorted. "Bitch, please. I'm gonna be fine. I'm not the one flying solo."

"You're right. I'll be so far away, so alone," Token said with faux sadness, "that I'm really gonna miss Craig and Tweek."

Clyde kicked him under the table. Token laughed and turned to Craig.

"Enough about my struggles. How about our buddy Craig," Token teased. "He's gonna have to learn to live without his precious Gwen and Tweek."

"What the fuck, Craig?!"

"The guinea pig, Clyde," Token clarified. "Not the boyfriend."

Clyde kicked Token one last time in retaliation before getting up to mooch more pizza off Bebe a few tables over. The second he had left the table, Token's face changed. It was only for a moment, but Tweek saw a twinge of sadness pass by in the boy's brown eyes.

"Don't worry. He'll barely step four steps onto campus before he's texted you the first time," Craig reassured Token with a confident grin.

Token laughed. "Yeah, what about you two? Are you just gonna be so busy with each other you won't remember to keep in touch?"

"Yes," Craig answered. Tweek elbowed him playfully.

"Dude, we'll still have to meet up online for game nights every once in awhile," Tweek smiled. Token nodded before changing the subject, seemingly eager to postpone any further talk of separation.

"Hey, should we maybe join the other guys at the big table?"

Craig was obviously about to ask 'why' so Tweek cut him off with a less antisocial "Sure." As Token got up to move towards the bigger table, Craig shot Tweek an annoyed glance.

"Seriously, though. _Why_?" he asked.

"What? You don't care about saying goodbye? We grew up together, man," Tweek answered. He hadn't thought that he had sounded irritated with Craig, but his boyfriend made a grab for his hand as if he had. He entwined their fingers as Tweek pulled him after Token.

"It's not like it's an actual goodbye, though," Craig muttered when they sat down on the only pair of empty chairs that were next to each other. "They're all going to CSU, too."

"Not all of them," Tweek noted. "Just Stan and Kyle."

"Oh."

"Hey!" Kenny greeted them loudly from across the table. "If it isn't everyone's favorite power couple! How nice of you to join."

"Do we at least get to say goodbye to him too?" Craig muttered so quietly Tweek didn't think anyone else had heard. He was wrong.

"Think again, Sourpuss," Kenny smirked. "I'm moving to Fort Collins to work. So I'll be just a few miles away at all times."

Tweek laughed at Craig's disappointed face. Across from them, Cartman snorted so violently that a piece of half-chewed pizza landed in Tweek's lap. Craig brushed it to the floor before Tweek had the chance to freak out about it.

"Ha! Good luck finding a place, Kenny!" the fat teen roared. "You're gonna be spending the first two months on the street before you find something even remotely affordable."

No one openly agreed with him, but Stan and Kyle did exchange worried glances.

"Already did, fat-ass," Kenny smirked. "Two bedroom, not too bad shape, and close to CSU campus so I can _always_ come visit."

"That's great, Kenny," Kyle said, but with a hint of doubt laced through his words. "But can you really pay rent for a two bedroom apartment on just your own salary?"

Kenny laughed and grabbed the last slice of pizza off Kyle's plate. "Haha. Of course not!" he spoke around the cheesy mouthful. "I'm gonna get a roommate. Can't be too hard. The place is so close to campus, people are gonna be begging to live with me. Hell, I'll have so many to chose from, I can even make sure they don't hurt my eyes too bad, if ya know what I'm sayin'."

"That's awesome, Ken," Stan laughed lightheartedly. "Be sure to visit whenever you have time."

Kenny loudly swallowed the final bite of the pizza slice and grinned. "Oh, I will."

The group slid into a comfortable talk about all the crazy memories they had shared together through their time in South Park. Crazy was an easy theme to come by apparently, so the stories kept coming. Tweek relaxed at the comfortable atmosphere around the table and leaned into Craig to silently take it all in. Craig took the hint and began massaging his fingers into Tweek's scalp, messing his hair up even more than it already was. This was nice. He'd spent the last couple of weeks so stressed about all the changes about to come; he'd barely slept since before graduation. It was good to able to just enjoy this moment.

After half an hour of happy remembering, Craig released his fingers from Tweek's hair to rise and go to the bathroom. And in precisely that moment, a waiter behind them dropped his entire load of dishes. They crashed loudly on the floor, and Tweek jumped four feet into the air at the noise. Feeling his heart pound violently in his throat and his age-old habit of shaking return, he was half on his way to flee the room when Craig pulled him back down into his seat. The brunet wrapped both his arms around him and put their foreheads together to get eye contact.

"It's alright."

Tweek swallowed, feeling excruciatingly embarrassed about freaking out again.

"I'm sorr-"

" _It's alright_ ," Craig repeated, this time with more intensity. As usual, there was something so astonishingly soothing about looking into those calm grey eyes of Craig's, and after a few deep coaxed breaths Tweek felt the anxiety and the embarrassment leave his body. Craig's thumb stroked his jaw, and Tweek smiled gratefully.

"Good?" Craig asked.

"I'm good," Tweek nodded.

Craig smiled at him with a nod and then got back up to continue going to the bathroom. Tweek watched him go before turning his attention back to the table full of former classmates. Token was watching him with an oddly soft expression.

"What?" Tweek asked. His friend shook his head dismissively.

"Nothing," he said. "I'm just really glad Craig's going with you to CSU."

Tweek raised an eyebrow and said, "Yeah, me too."

"Then at least we won't have to worry too much about you," Token said with a breezy chuckle. Tweek had been picking at his nails, but looked up in confusion at his friend's words.

"What do you mean 'worry about me'? Why would you be worried?"

"Well, you know …"

"What do I know?" Tweek insisted and forced himself not to break eye contact. Token finally picked up on the change in Tweek's attitude. His eyes widened.

"Well, I'm sure going off to college is gonna be stressful as fuck…" he said and scratched the back of his neck. "… And you don't exactly have a history of dealing with stress or pressure that well. I mean, not on your own at least."

"You don't think I could handle college if Craig wasn't there? Is that what you're saying?" Tweek asked in disbelief. He could feel the anger rise up, and he clenched his fists under the table in an attempt to force it back down.

Clyde had picked up on the conversation and tried to help. "He doesn't mean it _that bad_ , but you know…"

Tweek turned to Clyde. "You think so too?!" he yelled incredulously.

Clyde and Token unchanged a look, seemingly both very uncomfortable with the situation. Then Craig sat back down in his seat, and their faces lit up with relief.

"Hey! It's Craig!"

"Buddy! Craig! How are you, Craig?"

Craig eyed his two best friends suspiciously. "What's wrong with you?"

Clyde shook his head and slapped a goofy grin on his face as he leaped out of his chair. "Nothing. Nothing. I'm … gonna go get … something."

"I'm gonna help!" Token said and fled his chair as well.

Tweek watched them leave, still angry. Craig nudged him gently.

"What's up?"

Tweek eyed his boyfriend's worried expression and tried to will the anger to disappear from his face where Craig would read it so easily.

"Nothing. Nothing's up."

* * *

Tweek didn't sleep much the following night. Instead, he spent the majority of the dark hours filing through memories of the last few years. Was he really relying too heavily on Craig? Was he completely incapable of staying sane on his own? He knew Craig had a way of reading his moods. Because of that, Tweek almost never experienced the really bad anxiety attacks anymore. Craig picked up the signals so fast that he would be calming Tweek down before they could take over completely. That didn't mean Tweek never had bad days. He did. However, he had to admit that he'd grown accustomed to Craig being by his side to prevent bad days from escalating into full-blown anxiety attacks. Tweek groaned into his pillow. Maybe the guys had a point.

The next morning over breakfast, Tweek tried to think of a subtle way to bring up the topic. He had to know if his parents' thought him as poorly equipped to handle adulthood as his friends apparently did. After ten minutes of thinking, he decided against subtlety.

"Do you think I'm weak without Craig?" he blurted out, efficiently interrupting his parents' conversation about milk brands for the new tiramisu latte they were launching at their coffee house.

At first, neither of his parents said anything. His mother sent his father a warning glance, unquestionably meant to prevent his initial response from being uttered.

"We don't think that at all, dear," she said carefully. "It's just … we feel a lot better knowing that Craig is there with you. Through the bad days, you know."

Tweek narrowed his eyes. He saw right through his mother's attempt at being diplomatic. "And if he wasn't?"

His father dropped his fork. "Why?! Where's he going?" he exclaimed.

"Nowhere, Dad. I'm just saying-"

"Well, that's good," his father audibly exhaled in relief. "It's good that you have him, son. You know how things are with you sometimes."

"Richard!" his mother scolded.

"What?"

Tweek pushed himself angrily out of his seat and left the kitchen without acknowledging his mother's calling after him. He stomped upstairs. He would surely give himself a headache if he didn't stop clenching his jaw so tightly. It didn't matter. He'd made up his mind. He slammed his bedroom door shut behind him and dug violently through his sleepover bag to recover his laptop. He heard the sound of his mother's feet on the staircase so he hurriedly locked his door. At the sound of the first knock on his door, he stuffed his ears with his headphones and turned up the sound of the first song available on his phone. Then he huffed in annoyance. That song always reminded him Craig.

Ignoring any emotion that conflicted with his anger and determination, he opened his browser and googled his way to a job-listing site.

* * *

This was the hardest part of it. Tweek had been biting his nails all morning thinking about it. The closer he got to this moment, the more he wanted to just give up on his plan altogether. He bit down on his bottom lip again. He could do this. He had to do this. No matter how little he wanted to, he had to tell Craig.

"So, what did you so urgently have to talk to me about?" Craig asked as he sat down in his usual booth at the coffee house.

Tweek had tried his best to appear calm and composed when he'd called his boyfriend earlier to ask him to come to his work to talk. From the cautious look on Craig's face, it hadn't worked. Tweek opened his mouth to answer, but immediately lost all courage when he saw Craig's eyes lock on his chewed-up nails.

"Tweek?"

Tweek saw his father watching him from the other end of the shop, mouthing a not too subtle _don't do it_. Insecurity was replaced with stone-cold determination once again. _Be strong_ , he told himself.

"I've been thinking a lot about college," he said. Craig raised an eyebrow. They all had.

Tweek continued, "I know it's not probably not what you've been thinking, but I think it's really important that I try to stand on my own a little bit more. So, I got a job at a cafe in Fort Collins-"

"That's great."

"That's not all. I also found a place. Off campus. Where I'm going to live. Without you."

Tweek instantly regretted his words when he saw how they changed Craig's face. _Be stronger._ He swallowed down his guilt and straightened his back. He had to be firm. He had to do this. If he didn't stand his ground now, he never would.

"What are you saying?" Craig uttered, looking thoroughly horrified. "If you're breaking up with me-"

"I'm not!" Tweek interrupted. "I wouldn't. It's not about that. I just really need to do this. I need to be stronger. Or I won't ever be able to survive on my own."

Craig furrowed his brows "What? I'm slowing you down now?" he asked, raising his voice.

"No!" Tweek said. He eyed their surroundings. People were staring. "If anything I'm slowing _you_ down."

The anger left Craig's face immediately. "I don't think you're slowing me down…" he said.

Tweek sighed. "That's not my point. My point is that…"

"What?"

"I'm the weak one, Craig!" Tweek spat out, feeling the venom of the words as they left his body. "I don't wanna be the weak one."

Craig blinked, and Tweek saw so much compassion in his eyes.

"I don't think you're the weak one."

"Well, then you're the only one," Tweek said and crossed his arms. "Everyone else thinks so."

Craig reached across the table to put his hand on Tweek's arm.

"Why does it matter what everyone else thinks?" he asked.

"Because I agree with them," Tweek answered. "I rely on you for everything. That's not good."

Craig sighed and turned his head towards the counter where Tweek's mother was taking orders from an elderly couple. Tweek could tell he was trying to push down whatever he was feeling to be supportive from the way he was pursing his lips. He'd done the same thing back in the seventh grade when Tweek had told him that he was going to be working for his parents again. Craig hadn't liked that idea either. Finally Craig relaxed the shoulders he'd been tensing since receiving the news, and his face took on its more typical pragmatic look.

"You can't be living off campus all alone, though," he stated. "Did you even find a roommate?"

"Yeah, you're not gonna like this part either. It's Kenny."


	2. Roommates

CHAPTER TWO

Craig's phone kept buzzing, and Craig kept ignoring it. He could always excuse himself later with the fact that he was too busy moving into his dorm room to check his phone. Tweek might not buy it, but he would deal with that later if he had to. He adjusted his grip on the cardboard box full of his clothes and followed his father's large frame through the corridor.

They finally found the right door, and Craig took a deep breath before entering the room that would be his new home. It was bland to say the least. Nothing fancy, just pale wooden furniture and cream-colored carpet and curtains. The space consisted of a pair of closets and two beds, where one was elevated to make room for one of the two desks underneath. Seeing that his future roommate hadn't arrived to claim either of the two beds, Craig decided for the elevated bed. He'd always wanted that kind of bed as a kid, and now he was finally old enough that his parents couldn't stop him from having it. His father saw him throw his jacket on the bed and shook his head with a crooked smile.

"Of course, you would."

Craig smiled for the first time that day. His mother entered the room with the last of his stuff and upon seeing her son's choice of bed, she smiled as well. He noticed a sad edge to her smile and wondered if she'd been like that all morning. He had been far too caught up in his own thoughts to really pay much attention to either of his parents. Now that he looked at his father more closely, he thought the man's eyes appeared glassier than normally. Craig sighed. He'd been so busy arguing inside his head, he hadn't even considered that this was actually kind of a big day. For his parents too. He forced a bigger smile on his face and carefully took his stuff from his mother's grasp. She thanked him and tucked a lock of blond hair behind her ear.

"Well, let's get you started on unpacking," she said enthusiastically.

"Mom, you don't have to."

"We both know that if I don't, all your stuff will stay in the boxes or on the floor," she laughed.

He smiled meekly. "Thanks."

While his father sat in the desk chair watching, they began unboxing all of his clothes and putting them into the closet by the foot of his bed. His mother stacked everything neatly after type and color, even though Craig was sure to turn the whole thing into one big messy pile within a week. He heard the door open and took a deep mental breath to prepare himself to meet the roommate he was bound to be annoyed with.

"Randy?" his father erupted in confusion. Craig turned his head and, sure enough, saw Randy Marsh and Stan enter the small dorm room.

"Thomas, Laura!" Randy exclaimed with a friendly grin. "What a coincidence! I guess our boys are gonna be roommates, huh?"

While their parents laughed, neither Stan nor Craig spoke a word. They just stared at each other in silence before Craig exhaled in frustration. Trust South Park to follow him all the way into college. Stan just shrugged and dumped his large duffel bag on the available bed.

"Sharon's not with you today?" Craig's mother asked.

"No, she couldn't get out of work," Randy explained. "For the best, probably. The woman's a total mess about our boy leaving home."

Randy laughed at that, but next to him Stan eyed his father with a highly skeptical look on his face. His _mother_ wasn't the one most likely to cause a scene out of the pair. The two South Park fathers continued to laugh about the not-so-improbable coincidence of their sons sharing a room, and Craig's mother turned her attention back to unpacking the last bit of home memorabilia that her son had brought to the dorm. She hummed in amusement and carefully unwrapped the framed photo of Tweek and Craig that usually hung above his bed back home. Craig felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment as Stan observed his mother place the photo on his new desk. He could tell the other teen was smirking and trying to get eye contact. He turned his attention to his phone instead. Tweek had called seven times. And left a lot of messages.

' _Hey, could you call me maybe?'_

' _Did you lose your phone again?'_

' _Call…'_

Craig's stomach clenched up. He felt guilty for ignoring Tweek all morning, and the wave of self-loading hit him hard. He knew the boy would jump to insane conclusions when he was left to his own doubts for too long. The next message rolled in. It contained a picture of the big cage that housed Gwen and Guinea Pig-Tweek. His pets stared back at him from a room full of cardboard boxes.

' _Officially moved in. Call.'_

It wasn't entirely possible to contain the small smile that formed on his lips at the sight of the picture. When he looked up from his phone, his mother was staring at him with an odd look on her face. He left the phone on his new desk next to the picture of him and Tweek. Randy didn't offer to help Stan unpack the way Craig's mother had, and after 20 minutes of casual conversation, he patted his son awkwardly on the back.

"Well, Stan. I guess I should get going. Give you some space to settle, huh," he said with a noticeably tremble in his voice. "Remember to call home, right? You know how your mother gets."

"Sure. I'll call you guys soon." Stan waved his father goodbye as the geologist backed out of the room, his face weirdly intense, as if he was trying to memorize every part of his son's face one last time. Stan shut the door in his face.

"Yeah," Craig's father said and cleared his throat. "We should get back home, too."

"We should," his mother agreed. She enveloped Craig in a bone-crushing hug. "Be safe, honey, and do your best, okay?"

"I will, Mom," he mumbled into her hair, returning the hug with a lump in his throat.

He honestly hadn't expected to feel emotional about his parents leaving, but here he was, clinging to his mother and fighting back the urge to ask her to stay a little longer. He patted her gently on the back, and she let him go. Her eyes were watery, but she kept the rest of her face poised. His father made no move to hug him. Instead, he squeezed his shoulder firmly and nodded.

"Take care, alright. Of Tweek, too."

"Of course."

His parents left the room, and he realized that this was probably the first time in at least a year he'd been alone in a room with Stan. Stan who was now his official roommate. He turned to the other dark-haired boy. Stan smiled at him.

"So, roomie," he said. "You took that closet, right?"

He pointed towards the furniture in question, and Craig nodded. Stan opened his duffel bag and began pulling articles of clothing up.

"You don't mind," Craig said. He meant to phrase it like a question, but the intonation wasn't with him.

"Do I mind the closet?"

"No," Craig said and rolled his eyes. "You don't mind that we're going to be roommates?"

Stan snorted. "Honestly, Craig. If growing up in South Park has taught me anything, it's that this could have turned out a whole lot worse."

"Fair point."

As Stan passed Craig's desk, said boy's phone lit up again and buzzed loudly against wooden surface. Stan lifted an eyebrow after seeing Tweek's name and face appear on the screen. He looked at Craig. Craig grabbed his phone off the desk, avoiding all forms of eye contact again.

' _Are you okay?'_

Craig could actually feel his facial expression softening. For the first time all morning, he answered:

' _I'm fine. Busy moving. Call you later, kay?"_

He immediately received a response to his curt message. _'Kay'_

He knew he didn't have the right to be angry with Tweek for deciding to live off campus. It wasn't like they had actually discussed where they were going to live. Craig had just assumed they would be living in close proximity since they did everything else together. It had seemed like the most natural development in the world.

It had been enough time since their talk at the coffee shop that Craig wasn't _really_ angry with Tweek anymore. They'd still be pretty close to each other. He could walk from campus to Tweek's new apartment. Take the bus on rainy days. Not to mention that there was an added bonus: his guinea pigs. The dorms didn't allow for pets so Craig had originally thought that he would have to leave his precious fur balls at home with his family. But Tweek's new place didn't have any sort of rules against keeping pet rodents, and his boyfriend had immediately offered to house Gwen and Guinea Pig-Tweek when he'd found out. Craig figured it was mostly a form of making it up to him. And of course, to make sure that Craig would actually come visit him despite Kenny sharing the apartment.

Kenny. Craig grit his teeth. Of all the people in the entire world for Tweek to room with, it had to be the one person that Craig intentionally tried to keep him away from. Tweek didn't get it. He kept telling Craig that McCormick was a good guy, and that Craig shouldn't feel so threatened by him. _Threatened_. That had been the word to set off Craig that day. Of all the words to use, Tweek had opted for the one that, for some reason, pissed Craig off the most. He'd yelled something stupid about whether Tweek assumed he'd be threatened because he actually thought Craig had a reason to be. He hadn't even stayed behind to allow Tweek to yell back. He'd slammed the door on his way out.

They'd talked since, obviously, but Craig could still feel the tension of that conversation whenever he was around Tweek. Stan cleared his throat, and efficiently pulled Craig out of his own head.

"So, I was wondering," he started. "Was there a particular reason that you decided to move into the dorms and not into a place with Tweek?"

Craig glared at him. "That's not really any of your business, is it?"

"No, you're right. Sorry." Stan held up his hands in defense before returning to unpacking.

"Not like it was my decision anyways," Craig muttered under his breath. Sadly, the room wasn't that big, and Stan had heard him.

"Is that why you're so angry today?" he asked. "Because he's living with Kenny?"

Craig didn't answer.

"I don't get why that's so bad. I've seen the apartment, and it's really close to campus."

Craig still didn't say anything. Stan sighed and looked at him with an odd sort of pity.

"Kenny's not a bad guy, you know," Stan said. Of course, he did. Stan and Kenny had been buddies since kindergarten.

Craig just shrugged to let Stan know he wasn't willing to continue this conversation any further. Stan rolled his eyes and went turned his attention to his laptop instead. Craig climbed into bed and tried to best his personal best at every single stupid game he'd ever downloaded to his phone. He didn't pay much attention to Stan, but about an hour into his self-entertaining, he noticed Stan's typing become increasingly more aggressive. Whatever was on his screen, it was pissing him off. Being reminded of the existence of his laptop, Craig got up from his bed just as another message from Tweek rolled in.

' _I have to go to work soon, please call'_

Stan glanced up from his computer to send Craig a telling look. Craig had had enough meddling into his romantic life and decided it was about time to flip the situation. Then, at least he wouldn't be the only one feeling invaded. He could easily guess what was most likely to have put Stan in a bad mood.

"What happened to you and Wendy anyway?" he asked, nowhere near as casually as first intended. "Weren't you back together for the hundredth time?"

Stan looked momentarily taken aback by Craig's sudden outburst. Then surprise turned to hurt.

"She… _we_ broke up. She got accepted into Harvard," he said with both sadness and venom in his words. "Apparently, getting into a fancy school means that you have to abandon everything that isn't _sophisticated_ enough for the glorious life you're about to begin."

"I'm sorry," Craig said, immediately feeling like an ass for having brought it up. Stan pushed his computer off his lap, got up and pulled a hoodie over his head.

"Yeah, whatever," he said. "I'm gonna go find Kyle. He should have finally gotten rid of his mother right about now."

Despite being upset, Stan didn't slam the door on his way out. Craig was mildly impressed. He would have slammed it. The room fell insufferably quiet, and he groaned. For all his current issues, he could at least acknowledge that he wasn't as bad of as certain other people. He unlocked his phone and dialed up the boyfriend that at least hadn't straight up abandoned him for some Ivy League adventure in Massachusetts.


	3. Housewarming

The floors made a noise. It wasn't constant, and it wasn't that loud. But every now and again, there it was. Tweek's mind had jumped to what he felt was a reasonable conclusion: obviously, there was someone else in the apartment with him. A stranger had broken into his apartment, and he was about to die.

Naturally, his first instinct had been to call Craig, but his boyfriend hadn't answered his phone all morning. He accepted that he was likely about to be murdered in his new home. As it turned out, though, upon further inspection, it was the old floorboards that creaked loudly every time a larger vehicle drove past their apartment building.

Finding this new insight both embarrassing and amusing, he'd texted Craig again. Still no response. There was a nagging voice at the back of his head whispering to him, telling him that Craig didn't answer because he was still mad at him. He ignored it and sat down on the floor next to the cage housing Craig's guinea pigs.

Gwen, the calmer black one, sat on top of the little house they usually slept in. She eyed him curiously for a minute before making a high-pitch noise indicating that she was expecting a treat from this particular human in front of her. He sent her an indulgent smile. There was absolutely no food in the house, but at least Craig had made sure to pack his pets a ton of treats along with their regular food pellets.

As soon as Tweek opened the small plastic bag with treats, Guinea Pig-Tweek emerged from her hiding place inside the little house. He poured some treats through the top bars of the cage and watched the chubby rodents try to outdo each other in gathering them fastest. Tweek laughed. Then he pulled out his phone and took a picture.

'Officially moved in. Call,' he wrote and sent the picture to his boyfriend.

Even if he didn't receive a response, he knew that when the time came, a photo of Gwen and Guinea Pig-Tweek would cheer Craig up, regardless of what was bothering him. He looked around at the mess of boxes in his new room. He could barely even move around in there. How did he even own this much stuff? He opened the first of his boxes, the one containing his console and games, and began placing everything neatly on the shelves above the television in the living room.

At first, he organized them alphabetically. Then he changed his mind and sorted them by genre instead. He'd hoped keeping busy would make him forget about the unease of being home alone. It didn't. Not only was the place prone to producing strange noises of the kind Tweek attributed sneaky serial killers, he also had a constant feeling of being exposed.

He checked his watch. He'd been alone for three hours at this point. Embarrassment coiled uncomfortably in his chest. How was it possible for him to be freaking out this soon? His parents had helped him unload all of his belongings into his new room earlier that morning, but they hadn't been able to stay for long since they both had to get back to the coffee house their entire home economy depended on. Kenny had been pleasant company for an hour, but then he'd had to leave for work, leaving Tweek completely to himself save for the two guinea pigs.

Trying to distract himself further, he unpacked all the boxes containing his clothes and was able to pass a great deal of time trying to organize his new closet to his liking. When he finally closed the closet door after a job well done, he checked the time again. Forty minutes had passed since he'd last texted Craig. He bit his left thumbnail nervously, feeling the good old anxiety begin to whisper in his ear again. Craig almost never went forty whole minutes without at least glancing at his phone.

'Are you okay?' he wrote. His breath hitched when his phone actually chimed at the arrival of a response this time.

'I'm fine. Busy moving. Call you later, kay?"

'Kay', he typed back immediately. At least that meant Craig wasn't injured or something. Tweek knew it was ridiculous to assume those kinds of things whenever he didn't get answers to his messages, but he just wasn't in control of that particular part of his brain.

He went into his room and spent some time on the newly freed up space on his floor around the guinea pig cage. Gwen heard him sit and wobbled to greet him. He took her out and put the plump little body onto his lap. After fifteen minutes of idle petting, he'd calmed down significantly. It was oddly therapeutic to stroke the coarse fur, and he was suddenly grateful for having the guinea pigs in his new home.

His stomach growled, interrupting the moment and making Gwen squeal loudly in curiosity. He placed her carefully back in the cage where the other Tweek had come out of hiding to investigate the cause of Gwen's noise.

The apartment was not that big, and Tweek had less than five steps out of his room to the kitchen. Despite that the whole construction of cabinets looked about ready to fall apart, he thought there was something charming about the obvious wear of the place. Especially the kitchen, if one could call it that when it was so tiny and closely connected with the living room. The only edible thing in his new fridge was the sandwich his mother had wrapped up for him before they'd left South Park.

He launched himself on Kenny's couch and ate the sandwich in front of the television. Kenny had moved in a week earlier, and the first thing he'd invested in was the big screen and large sofa. Tweek actually managed to spend more than an hour watching TV without fretting any further about the odd sounds of the place. He felt proud of himself.

'I have to go to work soon, please call," he wrote Craig. Glancing at the time, he was getting a little worried he wouldn't get to talk to the guy before he had to start his shift at the cafe. He couldn't be late for his first day. Ten minutes later, the phone rang. He nearly fell off the couch at the sound of his own ringtone.

"Hey, it's me," Craig greeted. "Sorry, it's been a little crazy here."

"That's okay. I just wanted to talk to you," Tweek said, smiling in relief. "It's a little weird being home alone in this place."

There was silence for a second, then Craig asked, "Kenny's not there?"

"No, he's working. He's got some really long shifts at that restaurant apparently."

"When do you have to go work?"

"Ten minutes."

"Sorry, I should have called," Craig said, sounding genuinely apologetic.

"No problem," Tweek replied with a laugh to ease up the mood. He didn't need the tension right now. He just wanted to hear Craig's voice instead of the silence. "Did you meet your roommate yet?

There was a pause followed by a loud exhale.

"Craig?"

"Yeah. I have to share a room with Stan, it seems."

"Stan … as in, Stan Marsh from South Park?"

"Yes."

Tweek chuckled at his boyfriend's frustration. He knew it wouldn't last that long. Craig didn't really have a problem with Stan. Not beyond slight irritation at the other boy's innate ability to drag other people into crazy and mostly unwanted adventures.

"Could have been worse," he offered.

Craig scoffed. "Definitely could, but still…" he said, trailing off.

Tweek sat up when he remembered why he'd originally wanted Craig to call. It hadn't just been the uneasy loneliness.

"Hey, there's this party later," he said excitedly. "A bunch of the others from South Park are gonna meet up at Clyde and Bebe's new place at 10. Wanna go?"

"Sure," Craig said with zero enthusiasm. "That's pretty close to your job, right?"

"It is," Tweek said and nodded despite Craig not being there to see it. Craig hummed; he was a loud thinker.

"Alright," he said. "Let's meet up on the way there when you get off work then. Deal?"

"Deal," Tweek said with a grin.

They exchanged goodbyes, and he felt his mood had improved greatly by the time he locked himself out of the building and headed off to work.

Nothing had exploded, and nobody had died. Tweek's four-hour shift had ended and not a single one of the worst-case-scenarios he'd conjured up on the way there, had actually happened. He deemed that a success. He grabbed his jacket and waved goodbye to the nice girl who'd shown him around and worked beside him through the shift.

Tweek felt his whole body relax at the sight of his boyfriend leaning up against a lamppost outside. As if instinctively, Craig looked up at the exact moment Tweek caught sight of him. He smiled broadly and pulled out his earphones.

"Hey, you," he greeted, sounding much happier than he had when they'd been on the phone earlier.

"Hey." Tweek nearly ran the short distance in excitement. He looped his arms around Craig's neck and pulled him down for the greeting kiss he was due. Craig's arms wound around tight him and pulled him close. Tweek smiled. Craig smelled good. In fact, he smelled like the cologne Tweek had bought him for his last birthday.

"How was your first day at the cafe?" Craig asked into his neck, still clutching him tight. "Any problems?"

Tweek shook his head, knowing exactly what kind of 'problems' Craig was hinting at. "None. It was a good day."

"Great," Craig said. "That's good."

"Mmm."

"I'm sorry for not calling," he apologized sincerely. "I didn't think you'd be home alone."

"That's okay. Don't worry," Tweek reassured him. He removed his arms from around Craig's neck, and said boy reluctantly let him go. "I gotta learn at some point, right?"

Craig eyed him for a moment before forcing out a smile. "Right," he muttered and offered his hand. Tweek took it, entwining their fingers as they continued up the street to Clyde's new place. Like Tweek, Clyde had moved into an apartment in Fort Collins rather than into a dorm room on campus. He'd actually been very excited to experience all his movie-founded college dreams about having roommates, dorm parties and casual on-campus hangouts. In the end, though, his girlfriend Bebe had been gifted an apartment by her father, and she insisted they had to take their relationship to the next step and live together. That night was their housewarming party.

"God, I think I can actually hear Clyde from here," Craig groaned.

Tweek sniggered, "Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. He's right there."

Clyde must have spotted them from the window. He'd already made it downstairs to greet them both with a shared hug. "Heeeeey! You're here. Thank God!"

"Shit, dude. Your party that bad?" Craig asked and pushed the boy out of their personal space. Clyde shook his head. His eyes were red and glassy, indicating that he was fairly drunk already.

"No, no, no." He burped. "It's great. Obviously. It's my party. I just thought you'd make up some excuse to stay away and make out instead. You just went a full 24 hours of not seeing each other. Fuck, that's gotta be a record!"

Craig punched his shoulder, and Clyde pretended to be hurt, so drunk that his pretend-fall became an actual one. Tweek grabbed his arm and yanked him back to his feet. Clyde patted him affectionately on the head in gratitude and made a grand gesture with his arms to welcome them into the building.

While they could never really trust Clyde's evaluation of party success, it did sound like a considerable group of people were enjoying themselves as they approached his third-floor apartment. Clyde half pushed-half fell into the door and opened up his new home to his old friends.

"Yo! Look who I found!" he yelled into the room. "Ah, shit. Sorry, Heidi."

Poor Heidi had stood too closely to the door and cowered at the unexpected blasting of her eardrum. She sent Clyde a nasty glare, but quickly poised herself enough to greet her old classmates. Tweek glanced across the assembly of party guests. He recognized most from South Park - he'd spotted Stan, Kyle, Bebe, Kenny and David - but there were at least seven people he swore he'd never seen before. Which meant he probably hadn't. He was from a small town after all.

Tweek noticed Stan and Craig exchange awkward glances before Stan turned towards Kyle with an expression that spoke of a conversation including his new roommate. Kyle shook his head at Stan and flashed Tweek a warm smile in welcome. Tweek had just enough time to smile back before Clyde pushed him into the kitchen.

"Alright," he said. "What do you guys want? Bebe's dad is funding the party so we got just about it all."

Craig nudged Tweek to get him to make a decision for both of them. Tweek pushed back in defiance. "I'll just have beer. If you can handle that."

"What? Boring, Tweek! Not okay," Clyde complained, not acknowledging that the pair didn't share his affinity for vodka. Nonetheless, he pulled a beer can out of the vegetable drawer and tossed it to Tweek. He opted for not giving Craig the opportunity to be as 'boring' as his boyfriend and mixed a little of just about everything on the kitchen counter into a cup before his guest could object.

"Here you go, buddy. Seems you have to drink on behalf of both of you tonight, huh. Poor fellow," he said and lifted his own glass. "I salute you!"

Then he downed the whole thing. Craig sent Tweek an exasperated look and sniffed the drink. He made a face and was about to abandon the cup when Clyde's patience wore off and they were pushed back to the living room.

"Hey, roomie! Congrats on not boiling yourself to death on the milk steamer," Kenny said with a grin when they reentered the room. Tweek grimaced, regretting sharing that particular fear.

"Thanks."

Craig was trying to pull him to the other end of the couch, away from Kenny, but Tweek decided he wasn't having it. Kenny was a friend, and he was going to be Tweek's roommate for a while. Craig needed to get over himself. He released Craig's hand and sat down next to the other blond. Craig glared at him, but joined them on the couch regardless.

Tweek and Kenny cheerfully exchanged work stories. Craig continued to be annoyed and silent, barely moving except to sling one arm around Tweek's shoulder and using the other to lift the abominable drink to his lips every few seconds.

Tweek felt like pinching him for bad behavior but didn't. He understood. It wasn't actually completely unreasonable for Craig to dislike Kenny. The blond had actually kissed his boyfriend at a party once in high school. To be fair to Kenny, though, it wasn't like he'd made a legitimate move on Tweek or had actually meant to make Craig hate him.

It had been back when Tweek and Craig had still been 'pretend-dating'. Tweek had been sort of miserable, being so deeply in love with his best friend, and Craig had thought their whole relationship to be an act they were just too comfortable to break. Kenny had noticed the way Tweek looked at Craig when the other wasn't looking, and he'd offered to help. He'd insisted Craig felt the same but wasn't aware of it, and together with Tweek, he'd conjured up a plan to make the boy jealous enough to realize it.

And it had worked, Tweek thought as he rested his hand on Craig's thigh. He would regret absolutely nothing from that evening because it finally made them cross the line between fake and real.

"… No, but it wasn't too bad, actually," Kenny continued the story he'd been telling about his day. "She left me a very generous tip. Ha, it's kinda funny. She wore this beret and for a second I almost thought it was Wendy sitting at that table."

He laughed. On the other side of the coffee table, Stan turned his head instantly at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. Kyle frowned at the loss of his best friend's full attention.

"Wendy was at the restaurant?" Stan asked. His head wobbled a bit. He'd been drinking for a while as well, it would seem.

"Nah, dude. She looked like Wendy. Because of the beret," Kenny explained. His grin had a compassionate edge to it when he looked at his drunken friend.

"Oh," Stan said and turned his attention back to Kyle, who still looked a bit miffed.

Tweek didn't usually pride himself in paying too close attention to the people around him that weren't Craig, but something was off with Kyle. He couldn't quite pinpoint what it was about the redhead. He just seemed … upset.

Tweek began studying him a bit more closely. Were his shoulders always that tense? Did he always look that pained around his best friend Stan?

Tweek had nearly finished convincing himself to ask Kyle if he was all right when a dark-haired girl came out from the bathroom and started shouting excitedly.

"Oh my God! You're Tweek and Craig!" she exclaimed.

Half the room looked confused at the outburst, the other half shrugged in a yeah-so-manner. To them she might as well have pointed out the color of the curtains.

"Well, yeah?" Kyle said, bravely being the first to break the awkward silence that had followed the girl's statement. A pretentious-looking short guy that Tweek also hadn't ever seen before glanced between the girl and the boys on the couch.

"What? Esther, you know those guys?"

"Um, yeah!" she said. "They're famous back home in South Park."

"We weren't famous," Craig said, glaring at the girl Tweek now recognized as Esther who'd gone to South Park Elementary with them. She'd moved out of town the first year of high school and had since dramatically altered her hairstyle in a way that made Tweek feel less bad about not recognizing her immediately.

"Yeah, you were!" she disagreed and turned towards the short guy. "They were the first openly gay kids in the whole town."

The guy lifted both eyebrows and nodded. "Wow, I guess you are famous, then."

The boys didn't answer. Esther sighed dreamily.

"How long's it been, though?" she asked.

"8 years," Kenny answered promptly. He flashed a smirk in Craig's direction. "Give or take."

"What, really?" Esther asked in awe. "Guys, that has to be, like, a town record."

Clyde jumped from his seat. "It's totally a record - shut up, Stan, it doesn't count if you break up in-between the years - you guys totally have the record. We should celebrate you!"

"Please don't," Craig and Tweek protested in unison, making Esther and Clyde 'aww' loudly. Craig's nasty-smelling drink appeared in front of Tweek's face.

"Need to get drunk?" he offered. Tweek took the cup gratefully.

"Fuck, yes."

Tweek downed Craig's leftovers and allowed himself to be hauled back into the kitchen to obtain the massive amount of alcohol that would be needed for them to survive a whole night of Esther and Clyde.

Seven shots of tequila had done the trick. The whole world was spinning in a wonderful haze that made every far too curious question and comment from Esther and Clyde seem more amusing than invasive. They could laugh now. Esther would ask them how old they'd been the first time they kissed, first exchanged I-love-yous, first seen each other naked. In their drunken state, they could smirk suggestively enough to ward off every question without actually having to share what they felt was so intimately their own story to keep to themselves.

When Esther had eventually tired of her questions - and Clyde had been too grossed out imagining intimate details about two of his closest friends' relationship - the night was finally ready to move on to the kind of party the boys could enjoy. In his intoxicated state Craig had even warmed up enough to gossip with Stan and Kyle about Cartman's very public arrest during their last few days of summer.

After hours of actually being entertained without needing to work too hard to keep the buzz going, the night was nearing its end. People around them had left; one small group of drunken optimistic college students at a time, and after failing to stop a yawn himself, Craig finally noticed the time.

"Yeah, it's gettin' late, though," Craig said and softly nudged Tweek who rested his head on his shoulder. "We should probably get going soon, huh?"

Tweek nodded and tilted his head upwards to look at Craig. The yellow light from Bebe's antique lamp bathed Craig skin in an enticing golden hue. He was so goddamn beautiful. So Tweek kissed him. Craig made a small noise of appreciation before leaning in for easier access. Tweek threw his arms around Craig's neck, briefly being reminded of the feeling of relief and happiness when he'd greeted him much in the same manner on their way there. He'd missed him so much. He ran his naturally cold fingers over Craig's warm neck. Craig shivered and grabbed his hips, lifting him effortlessly into his lap.

"You're right, we should definitely get going," Tweek spoke against soft lips, before he contradicted his own words and lightly roll his hips into Craig's. Craig groaned and pulled Tweek even closer against him.

"Guys. We love you. But either you cut that out, or you leave and finish somewhere not here," Bebe said. Clyde would have probably agreed with her, had he not passed out on the kitchen floor fifteen minutes earlier.

Craig made noise of protest and defiantly buried his face in Tweek's neck. It seemed obvious who had to be the one to reinstate good behavior, and Tweek reluctantly pushed himself out of his boyfriend's lap. He grinned as he took in the chaotic mess that was Craig's hair. Craig grabbed for his leg, but Tweek took a teasing step back, lifting a challenging eyebrow.

"Fiiine," Craig said. He pushed himself off the couch and into Tweek's waiting arms. "But I'm not happy about it."

"Touch shit, princess," Bebe grinned and opened the front door for them. "I don't give a fuck. I wanna sleep." She blew them a kiss and slammed the door in their faces.

The cool breeze of the early morning greeted them as they tumbled out into the street, still clutching onto each other to not fall down. They were too drunk to avoid stumbling into the lamppost by the cafe where they'd met up earlier, and Craig cursed when he hit his head. That would hurt when he sobered up. Tweek waved at his workplace as they passed and then laughed at his own disheveled reflection in the glass doors.

They made it to his apartment building, and Tweek had just enough functioning decision-making skills left to remember stopping a few feet in front of the door. He pulled Craig down for brief kiss.

"Goodnight," he said when they pulled apart. Craig blinked, looking thoroughly baffled.

"Goodnight?" he repeated. "What? I can come up. I have time."

Tweek sighed sympathetically. He placed a gentle hand against Craig's cheek, stroking it lovingly.

"I know," he said. It was surprisingly hard not to take his words back immediately, seeing the obvious disappointment on that precious face. "But I really mean it. I have to get used to being alone."

"Right now, though?"

He nodded. "Gotta start somewhere."

Craig didn't say anything, just pursed his lips and clasped the hand still cupping his face.

"Okay?" Tweek asked.

Craig kissed his hand. "Yeah, I guess," he said. "If that's what you want."

"It's not. But I gotta."

He could feel Craig's eyes on his back when he locked himself into the building, so he turned to send him a smile he hoped didn't look as conflicted as it felt.

"I'll tell the fur babies you said hi," he promised

Craig smiled.


	4. Noise

CHAPTER FOUR

' _I'm gonna have to kill Stan'._

Craig pressed send and put the phone down. He had been trying to study for three hours. Trying, yet not succeeding, since someone had decided to be a pain in the ass and invite his BFF over. Stan and Kyle had been chatting and playing video games loudly all afternoon. Kyle once looked up from the pair's private little bubble to inquire whether they were being too noisy for Craig to study. And Craig just had to be so sarcastic about his 'of course not' that Stan immediately took advantaged of his statement and continued being loud. His phone buzzed.

' _Don't. You're not smart enough to avoid getting caught_ ' Tweek wrote.

Craig smiled and sent the photo on his desk a longing glance, wishing he could blink and have Stan and Kyle magically vanish and Tweek appear instead.

' _Well, at least I won't have a roommate anymore'_ he wrote and rolled his eyes as Stan yelled in outrage at his dying character. Kyle laughed at his misery.

"Dude, I keep telling you. Pause first, then shoot," Kyle said between chuckles. "You're not aiming properly."

"Yeah, well. At least when I die, I go out like a champ and not by falling off a roof," Stan teased, poking his friend playfully in the side.

"Hey! That could happen to literally anybody. It's a tricky roof."

"Oooh! Scary, scary roof- OW! No punching"

' _You'd be going to prison. I'm pretty sure a cellmate is at least ten times worse than a roommate_ ," Tweek wrote.

Craig groaned when he realized he'd read the same paragraph eight times for the past hour and he still had no clue what it was about. He glared at the twosome by Stan's desk. It was a computer game. On a laptop. A movable laptop that could be placed in any room. He wondered again if maybe he should just give up on the room and head to the library, but the past couple of hours had left him stubborn and defiant. It was his room too.

' _Fine. I won't kill Stan. But if I fail my classes because of him, I'm poisoning his food.'_

Craig glanced over the shoulder. Stan and Kyle were sitting with their chairs so closely together, one might as well had climbed onto the other's lap. Craig rolled his eyes. That's what he and Tweek would have done, at least.

Kyle commented on the armor of one of the characters, and Stan made an excited noise and immediately paused the game.

"Dude!" Kyle protested. "You might be dead, but I'm still playing!"

Stan nudged his shoulder and flashed him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I just remembered that I gotta show you this trailer. It looks amazing. They have a kinda similar getup," he explained and began searching YouTube.

Craig sighed audibly and threw them a glare. Would the noise ever stop? No. Apparently not, he thought as the low quality sound of Stan's computer blasted the sounds of a fantasy thriller.

"Hey, I've read the book!" Kyle exclaimed, leaning his head against Stan's shoulder.

"I know. The movie's hitting the theaters soon. We should totally go," Stan said and smiled down at the mob of red curls leaning on him.

"I does look amazing."

"Even though you always say that the book is better," Stan said.

Kyle snorted. "It always is."

"Er… no," the dark-haired boy answered. "Not always."

Kyle removed his head from Stan's shoulder to stare his friend down. "Always, Stan. _Always_ "

Stan leaned so close to Broflovski, it made Craig raise an eyebrow. "Pet Sematary?" he asked.

Kyle glared. "Dude, don't go there. King is sacred."

Stan rolled his eyes. "No one producing that many novels can possibly be sacred," he stated. "They can't all be good. That would make no sense statistically."

"Fine, but why, pray tell, is Pet Sematary a better movie than book?" Kyle asked, always willing to debate. Stan shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. I just remembered that Wendy once said that…"

"Wendy's opinion isn't fact, Stan," Kyle interrupted. Stan looked cornered. He was considerably less equipped to handle a debate against Kyle than Wendy herself would have been.

"If you guys are just gonna sit there and talk, you can literally do that anywhere else," Craig pointed out.

The least he could do was interrupt them before they started arguing. Not that he really cared that much about their friendship, but a fight was bound to be even more noisy than their gameplay. Kyle sent him a startled look, as if he'd genuinely forgotten he was there. Then he nodded and got up from the chair.

"What? You're leaving?" Stan asked.

Craig felt like celebrating. Finally! Maybe, if he was really lucky, Marsh would follow his friend out.

"Yeah. Craig's right. We don't have to be here when he's trying to study," Kyle said and pushed the chair he'd brought with him towards the door. "Besides, I actually got a shit ton of work to do myself so…"

Sadly, Stan did not follow the redhead out, but instead just sat staring at the door Kyle had left through.

"I bet he doesn't," Stan mumbled.

Craig groaned "Who cares?"

"He's never behind on his work," Stan continued. "I bet he's read the entire curriculum twice already."

Craig banged his head against the tabletop in aggravation. Silence wasn't happening, it would seem. Stan went back to his computer game, but thankfully put his headphones to use after being repeatedly hit in the head with various objects from Craig's side of the room.

It didn't seem fair, Craig thought. He was trying so hard to be a good student and read as much as he was supposed to. He'd barely opened a book through high school, but he wanted to do better this time. He'd promised his dad he would.

He cringed. Just a few days before he'd left South Park, his father had sat him down for a talk about why Craig needed to take his future very seriously. He'd pointed out that Craig couldn't rely on last minute cramming like he had in high school and that he still had some growing up to do. Craig was the first in his family to even go to college, and his dad expected him to do well and not 'waste their hard-earned money'.

And Craig was trying. He hadn't missed a single class, he'd taken a ton of notes and been so prepared even Kyle Broflovski would have to be impressed. But tonight wasn't his night. Stan had barely agreed to put on headphones before their musical majoring neighbor decided it was time to start rehearsing on his trumpet.

Craig looked resignedly at his book. Then he closed it, finally accepting that this was clearly not a night for studying. He grabbed his keys, phone and jacket. If he wasn't going to study, he might as well spend the night doing something he liked.

Tweek had just finished his dinner when the intercom buzzed. He glanced warily at the time. Should he answer? He wasn't expecting anyone. Why would he answer if he weren't expecting anyone? But what if it was a burglar, checking to see if anyone was home before attempting a break-in? In that case, he should definitely answer. His phone chimed in his hand and Craig's name appeared on the screen.

' _It's just me. Let me in.'_

He nearly tripped over his own feet in his haste to press the little button on the intercom. The wood of the threshold creaked loudly under his feet as he bounced on it in anticipation. Then he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and Craig emerged from the staircase.

"Hey-" Craig began, but was muffled by one of the arms Tweek threw around his shoulders. Tweek felt him chuckle into his shoulder and clutched him closer. After he let him go, Craig eyed him and lifted an eyebrow. "Is that my shirt?"

"Yes."

The boy nodded once in approval. He could be rather possessive of his stuff, but he'd never minded seeing his clothes on Tweek. Quite the opposite.

"Good."

Tweek grabbed his hand and pulled him into the apartment. Craig eyed the place with great curiosity, and Tweek wondered how he'd lived there for over a week without having his boyfriend over yet. Craig glanced at the empty couch.

"Kenny's not home?" he asked.

"Working," Tweek answered. "He does that a lot. Want something to eat?"

Craig shook his head and followed Tweek into the kitchen area. "I ate on my way here. Coffee would be nice, though."

Tweek began pouring them coffee while Craig wrapped his arms around his waist from behind, resting his head on the blond's shoulder.

"So, do I have to share your ass with a tattooed criminal cellmate, or is Stan still alive?" Tweek asked. Craig laughed and maneuvered him around so they were face to face.

"What? You don't like sharing? Such a typical only child," he teased with a smirk.

"Yup," Tweek said and pulled Craig closer. "Blame my parents."

Craig grinned and leaned in to claim the lips of his boyfriend who played along for a minute but then pushed him back.

"Coffee's out of the pot, Craig. You know my policy about wasting coffee," he said in a mock-serious tone.

"Right," Craig said with a laugh, purposely pressing his body closely against Tweek's as he reached around him to grab one of the coffee mugs.

"Can't let that get cold now, can we?" He winked, took a sip and turned around to take in the apartment. His grey eyes scanned every bit of the apartment visible from the kitchen area. Tweek grinned.

"They're in my room," he said and pointed at the door closest to them. Craig kissed his right temple and walked determinedly into Tweek's room.

There was absolutely nothing purer than the genuine excitement on Craig's face when his eyes found the cage. The black-haired boy whistled a tune and immediately a black ball of fur shot out from underneath the little house.

"Hey, Gwen. How are you?" Craig cooed.

The guinea pig squealed loudly when he pulled a small plastic bag out from his pocket. The sound prompted its wary companion to peek out from underneath a cluster of hay.

"Hi, Tweek."

Human-Tweek rolled his eyes. He'd tried so hard to get Craig to rename that guinea pig. If nothing else because it was disturbing to hear his boyfriend utter his name in that ridiculous baby talking voice.

"What did you bring them?" he asked and sat down next to Craig on the floor.

"Baby carrots."

Tweek eyed the bag. "Organic? Aren't we fancy today," Tweek teased.

"Obviously. If not they could be covered in all kinds of toxic shit," Craig explained and stroked Gwen's munching head.

He made a halfhearted move towards the mug he'd left just slightly out of reach. Tweek took pity on him and handed him the coffee.

It seemed stupid to be getting jealous of the attention the guinea pigs were receiving, but nonetheless Tweek found himself leaning on Craig's shoulder to remind the boy he was still there. Craig turned his head to place a brief kiss on Tweek's forehead in acknowledgment of his presence.

They watched the guinea pigs chew happily on the baby carrots for a while, neither of them saying a word. Tweek wondered just how much Craig had missed his pets. Personally, it was weird for him to suddenly live with animals. He imagined it was probably pretty strange for Craig to live without them.

When they were out of coffee, and Tweek's ass was half asleep from sitting on the floor too long, Craig muttered a "Bye for now" to the animals and stood up.

"Hey, remember the talk with my dad I told you about?" he asked, picking both his and Tweek's mug up from the floor and placing them on the windowsill. He offered a hand to Tweek, pulling the boy to his feet after he took it.

"The one about _responsibility_ and _maturity_ and _learning to become a man_?" Tweek asked, making his voice deep and mocking when he repeated the older man's words.

Craig nodded. "Yeah, that one. I was thinking about something you said when I told you."

"What did I say?"

"You said not to take my dad's advice so seriously and interpret it in my own way," he clarified.

Tweek snorted. "That sounds uncharacteristically deep for the kind of advice I usually give."

"You said it, though."

"If you say so," Tweek muttered, studying Craig's face closely for any indication of where this was headed. "How are you interpreting then?"

"I got a job interview tomorrow."

"What? Really? But you've never worked a day in your life," Tweek exclaimed before realizing how it sounded.

"That sure was a nice way to call me a spoiled brat, babe," Craig said with a raised eyebrow. He gently pushed Tweek back until the back of the boy's knees hit the bed frame. Tweek flashed him an apologetic grin, and Craig pushed him down on the mattress.

"Sorry," he said and grabbed a fistful of Craig's shirt so he could pull him down on the bed next to him. "That's not what I meant."

Craig laughed and moved to sit against the headboard. "I know. But I figured, if you can handle working and studying at the same time, then I could probably do it too," he said and ran a hand through Tweek's messy hair. "Would be a nice way to earn some money without having to beg my mom for it."

"True," Tweek agreed. He got up and sat himself in Craig's lap, trapping the boy against the headboard with his legs. "Where is it?"

"Supermarket," Craig answered. He ran his hands slowly up Tweek's legs and placed a kiss on his jaw. "The one by that big pet store."

Tweek giggled. "Was the pet store not hiring?" he asked and placed his hands on the other's chest, relishing in the rapid heartbeats against his palm.

"They were not."

"Well, in that case, good luck with the interview," Tweek said. He bit his lip. "I'm sure you'll do fine…."

Craig hands immediately stilled in their ascension up Tweek's body. " _What_?" he demanded.

Tweek blinked. "What?"

Craig narrowed his eyes. "You bit your lip. You do that when you lie."

"I'm not lying."

"You just did it again," Craig said, thumbing Tweek's bottom lip. Tweek kissed the thumb.

"It's just …" he started cautiously. "Maybe, be a little _aware_ of your behavior."

Craig furrowed his brows. "Why? What's wrong with my …" Realization visibly dawned on him. "Never mind, I get it. I'll try not to be so … _me_."

"Probably for the best." Tweek closed the short distance between their faces and kissed him apologetically. "But you'll do fine. I'm sure you will."

Craig hummed. Then he pushed Tweek to his back, pinning the blond to the mattress. Tweek had expected Craig to kiss him immediately, like he'd always do, but he just hovered above him silently, watching him with such soft and vulnerable eyes.

"I missed you," he said.

Tweek smiled. "I know."

He reached up and brushed his hand affectionately against Craig's cheek.

"I missed you too," he breathed. "So fucking much."

That ended the staring. Craig dove, eagerly pressing his mouth against Tweek's. Their tongues met and Tweek sighed contently. He pulled his boyfriend fully down on top of him so he wouldn't have to miss the feeling of being pressed down anymore.

It had been a long week, sleeping all alone. Back home their parents had been very accepting of their sleepovers, and Tweek's new bed had felt very foreign and lonely with just him in it.

He slid his hands under Craig's shirt, enjoying the feel of soft skin beneath his fingers before pushing the shirt upwards. Craig pulled away from Tweek's lips to let the blond push the fabric over his head.

Now shirtless, Craig moved down to begin kissing and sucking on the sensitive skin of Tweek's neck and collarbone. He bit down on what he knew from experience to be a particularly sensitive part. Tweek moaned and impatiently rolled his hips against Craig's. They couldn't keep playing at this. Not when it had been so long.

Craig removed himself from his nibbling target promptly. He pulled far too urgently at Tweek's shirt.

"You're gonna ruin it," Tweek said and laughed when he heard the sound of something tearing.

"It's my shirt. I'll allow it."

Craig pulled the shirt all the way off and threw it over his shoulder. Then he turned his head when it sounded like he'd hit the guinea pig cage.

"We good?" Tweek asked through repressed laughter.

Craig checked again to be certain, and then nodded and turned his attention back to the teen underneath him. His hands worked too eagerly and uncoordinatedly to free the both of them from their jeans and underwear, but succeed he did.

Tweek lifted his hips to assist him in removing his clothes and hissed as a cool breath of air hit his skin. He really ought to start turning on the heat. The apartment wasn't even trying to keep out the cold.

He pulled Craig back down against him, effectively bringing back some warmth. As he jerked his hips up to take full advantage of their lack of clothing, Craig noisily fumbled through his nightstand with one hand.

"My mom packed basically everything for me, so I can pretty much guarantee you that you won't find what you're looking for in that drawer," Tweek spoke against Craig's cheek.

Craig groaned. "Alright, brace yourself," he said. "It's about to get cold."

Once more Tweek's naked chest was hit by the chilly air of his room when Craig left him completely to go searching through the pockets of his abandoned jeans. Tweek hissed again at the cold.

"It's not illegal to turn on the heat, by the way," Craig muttered from somewhere on the floor.

"Shut up and get back here already."

Craig made a triumphant noise when he found what he was looking for. He returned to the bed proudly presenting a condom and the world's tiniest tube of lubricant.

"Someone didn't just stop for baby carrots on the way here, huh?" Tweek laughed. Craig flashed him a grin.

"And you didn't think I brought you anything."

"You know, I'm very thankful you didn't bring me carrots," Tweek responded and pulled Craig down for a needy kiss.

He rolled his hips against Craig's again. The black-haired teen groaned approvingly into his mouth and let his roaming hands slide back to Tweek's ass.

Tweek wound his legs around his boyfriend's hips and smirked into the kiss at the feel of Craig's boner rubbing against him. How they'd survived this long without sex was beyond him, and not something he cared to have happening again.

One of Craig's hands disappeared from his body but soon returned covered in goo. Tweek bit his lip in anticipation when a finger pushed into him, followed momentarily by another. He made a muffled cry into Craig's mouth when they were followed by a third. The digits twisted and fanned, gradually loosening up and making him tremble under Craig's captivated gaze.

Tweek smiled adoringly at the tender look on Craig's face and pushed back on the intruding fingers. Getting the message, the digits disappeared and Craig angled his face to touch his lips to Tweek's throat. He gave it an open-mouthed kiss before he pushed himself carefully into the other's body. The blond threw his head back, painting, at the larger intrusion, but soon relaxed into the feeling.

"We're good," he promised when he felt questioning eyes on him.

Craig leaned down to bury his face in Tweek's neck again and the blond let out a breathy moan as the body on top of him began moving.

He dug his nails into Craig's back and wondered why he'd sent his boyfriend away on the night of Clyde's housewarming. Right then, he couldn't see any reason for them to be apart. Ever.

He moved his hips to match Craig's pace, thoroughly enjoying the sound of his boyfriend grunting into his neck. If he hadn't been so hell-bent on proving himself, he could have heard that sound every day of the week they'd just spent away from each other's beds. He whimpered as Craig shifted and hit a spot that made him lose his vision for a moment.

"Fuck!" He gasped at the sensation, arching his back off the bed with a violent shudder.

Craig took the hint and continued to aim for the spot, thrusting harder and making Tweek moan as loudly as he preferred him to. Who cared about Tweek's neighbors anyway? One of the hands holding on to Tweek's thighs moved in between them to handle the blond's neglected erection.

Tweek squirmed, unable to hold still as every hair on his body stood up. Craig was way too good at this, and the added stimulation was too much to handle after more than a week of abstinence. He threw his head back and cried loudly as he came. Craig quivered as Tweek's body seized up around him and shakily thrust a couple more times before following him over the edge.

The black-haired teen collapsed on top of him. Tweek made a noise of complaint about being crushed, and Craig rolled off him. He tossed the condom away to God-knows-where on Tweek's floor and pulled the blond close. Tweek nuzzled his face into his chest and inhaled his favored scent of Craig mixed with sweat and sex.

"God, that was fucking amazing," he muttered into salty skin. Craig rested his hand on the small of Tweek's back, tracing small circles with his thumb.

"Yeah, I needed that," the boy agreed. He leaned back into the only pillow to relax, and Tweek was just about to succumb to sleep himself when Craig groaned in aggravation.

"What?" Tweek asked, not even bothering to open his eyes again.

"Now I'm gonna have to get up early and shower before that interview tomorrow," Craig whined.

Tweek opened his eyes just for the sake of rolling them. "Fuck's sake, Craig. You should always shower before an interview."


	5. Retail

CHAPTER FIVE

Craig was in no way prepared to face the world again when his alarm woke them up at eight the next morning. He nuzzled his face into the back of Tweek's neck in an attempt to kill the sound by ignoring it. No such luck, unfortunately.

Tweek stirred from his sleep in Craig's arms and nudged him with an elbow to do something about the noise. With a frustrated groan, Craig attempted to reach his phone on the nightstand without crushing Tweek underneath him.

"How is it morning already?" Tweek muttered sleepily into the pillow he'd somehow managed to steal back in his sleep.

"I don't know," Craig answered and finally ended the dreadful noise coming from his phone. "Evil magic, possibly."

He took in the sight of Tweek desperately clutching the pillow and stroked the boy's hair. "Just go back to sleep. You don't have to be up this early just because of me," he said.

Tweek scoffed and pushed himself off the pillow. "Nah, I'm awake now. I won't be able to sleep with you walking around anyway."

The blond caught sight of him and grinned. "But you should definitely shower, man. You look like a fucking mess."

"A _hot_ mess, at least?" Craig teased and poked Tweek's ticklish left side. Tweek squirmed.

"Definitely, but a mess nonetheless."

Craig sighed and sat upright. "Alright, fine," he said. "You stay here. I'm borrowing your shower."

"Please do."

He climbed out of Tweek's bed and made it nearly all the way to the door when Tweek called. "Hey, Craig."

"What?"

"I don't live alone, remember?" Tweek said with a crooked grin. Craig stared at him in confusion for a moment before realizing he was still very naked. And also about to walk into Kenny McCormick's territory.

"Yup," he said with a curt nod and retrieved his boxers from the floor. Slightly less naked than before, he made to the bathroom. The room was ridiculously cold, even compared to the rest of the apartment. Craig attributed it to the small window that clearly wasn't sealing the room properly from the outside.

" _Shiit_!" he hissed when he stepped under the shower. The water was even colder than the room. He angled himself into the corner of the stall and waited for the water to heat up. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, with the water only slightly less cold than before, he sighed in resignation and stepped back under the stream to wash. He didn't have forever to wait for hot water. After all, he had to be somewhere today.

When he deemed himself sufficiently clean, he stepped out of the shower and glanced at himself in the small mirror above the sink. He looked alright, he reckoned, and put his underwear back on. Stepping out of the bathroom, he was greeted by the far too smug smile of Kenny McCormick.

"Uh… good morning?" he told the grinning blond whose smile widened to a perfect Cheshire cat imitation.

"Oh hey, Craig! Didn't hear you coming last night. Oh, wait." Kenny winked. "Nah, I totally did."

Craig felt the heat of what was sure to be a very red face, and his brain regretfully failed to think of any kind of comeback. Kenny laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Welcome to our humble abode," he said and opened his arms in an inviting gesture. "Make yourself at home, and maybe in the future buy me some soundproof headphones or something. You guys are louder than I thought you'd be."

Craig glared maliciously at him, and Kenny stuck a playful tongue out at him. "Not a morning person, are you?"

"No, he's not," Tweek said and emerged from his bedroom fully dressed. Craig was starting to feel far too naked in this room of fully dressed people.

Kenny waved. "Morning, Tweek."

"Morning," Tweek said with an easy smile. Craig took advantage of Kenny shifting his body away from the door and hurried past both blondes and back to the sanctuary of Tweek's room. Now, where the hell had he thrown his clothes? He heard someone step into the room behind him.

"If you're looking for your shirt, I have some bad news." Tweek said. "It was too close to the cage."

Craig groaned when he realized Tweek was right. His shirt must have landed on top of the guinea pig cage after all. It was now tugged halfway through the bars and chewed up in several places. He pulled the torn shirt out of the cage and sighed at the multiple holes his beloved pets had created.

"Well, it's nesting material now. Hope you little assholes sleep well in the ruins of my clothes," he muttered with little malice in his words. They were just animals after all. He turned to Tweek with a sad expression that was sure to earn him pity points.

"Can I borrow one of yours?"

"I need to talk to Helen Riley," Craig told the first person in a uniform he found when entering the store. It was a young man around his own age with carefully styled ash blond hair. The guy eyed him with great interest and flashed him a pleasant smile.

"You here for the interview?" he asked. Craig nodded. "Alright. Follow me. She's out back."

He followed the guy through the store while nervously tugging down of the sleeves of his borrowed shirt. He hoped his jacket covered the fact that Tweek had shorter arms than he did. By the time they reached the big flap doors leading out back, Craig was thoroughly regretting not just taking one of the shirts that Tweek had stolen from him.

They walked past several stock shelves until they reached a door in the far back of the room. The employee knocked on the door four times. A muffled voice told them to enter so the employee opened the door and stuck his head in.

"Hey Helen. There's another one here to see you," he said cheerfully.

"Thank you, Warren," the voice from the room answered. "Just send 'em in."

Warren turned back to Craig and gestured for him to walk past him. Remembering what Tweek had told him the night before, Craig made sure to smile and thank the guy on his way into the office.

The woman in the office rose from her chair when he entered. She was a tiny, broad-shouldered brunette with short shaggy hair and eyebrows as thin as sewing thread. There was something about her face that made her seem strict even though she was smiling. Maybe you had to be strict if you wanted to be managing a store. Craig wouldn't know.

"Hi there. I'm Helen Riley," she introduced herself and stuck a hand out for Craig to shake.

He took it and tried to emulate the kind of firm handgrip his father always preached a man should have.

"Craig Tucker," he said, reminding himself once again to keep a friendly smile in place. Even if it did feel so forced that the woman ought to be able to see through it.

"Have a seat, Craig."

He did. And noticed to his distaste that the chair had such short legs he was well below being on equal eye level with Helen. It was like being back at Counselor Mackey's office as an eight-year-old all over again. She fanned some papers out across the tabletop.

"Alright, Craig. Tell me a little about yourself."

He sank. He'd never had a job before so he wasn't sure what he could tell the woman about himself that would make him seem qualified for the job.

"Um. Okay," he began. "I'm eighteen. From a town called South Park. I go to CSU-"

"Studying what?" she interrupted.

"Civil engineering."

She nodded and her slim eyebrows rose on her forehead. "Interesting."

"I guess," he said before hearing Tweek's voice in the back of his mind yelling at him to be a little less ' _Craig'_. He forced the smile back on. "I mean, yeah. I think so."

Helen waited a minute for him to add more to the list of things about him that might be interesting enough to share with a stranger, and when it became clear that no further information was coming, she nodded again.

"What would you say is your greatest strength, Craig?" she asked.

Craig relaxed. He'd practiced this one on the bus. "I'm punctual. I'm honest and responsible," he listed. Granted, he hadn't come up with any of that himself. He'd texted Tweek on his way there, and his boyfriend had helpfully supplied him with plenty of good qualities he was believed to possess. There would be no mentioning of the 'great listener' or 'good kisser' also present on that list, though.

Helen smiled. "All very useful," she said. "And what would you say is your greatest weakness?"

His mind went completely blank. Weakness? He hadn't thought of any weaknesses. Was there even a way to name a real weakness without sounding unemployable? It was such a cruel question. Without a vast array of negative qualities to choose from, he just blurted out the first that came to mind.

"I've been told that I can be _too_ honest … I'm working on it, though."

Her smiled broadened slightly.

"Why would you like to work here?" she asked.

"I would just really like to try working a real job, having some real responsibility, earning my own money," he answered. "And then I figured that this job was probably something I could learn to do. Even though I haven't actually ever tried working before."

He immediately hated himself for admitting to never having had a job before, but Helen looked to think no less of him than before. She pulled a chart with names and times out from a binder on a shelf behind her.

"Well, Craig. I think I've heard just about all I need to hear," she said. His stomach dropped. So he had fucked up, then. Hadn't he? She smiled again. "Can you start Monday?"

Monday snuck up on Craig like a ravenous mountain lion. He cursed his way through breakfast and managed to flip off no less than four different people during his morning lecture.

He wasn't ready yet. He stood in his dorm room for fifteen minutes without moving after putting his uncomfortably stiff yellow polo shirt on. The ability to move came back to him when Stan had entered the room, saw him in the uniform, and laughed himself to actual tears.

 _'_ _I need to see it'_ Tweek had texted him back immediately, once he'd told him about the episode on his way to work.

 _'_ _Not happening'_

Tweek pestered him with no less than eight more text pleas to see him in the stupid work shirt, and he finally complied.

 _'_ _Fine. I'll stop by after work'_ he wrote, then added, _'provided that Kenny's not home.'_

 _'_ _Deal'_

Looking up from his phone, he regretfully realized that he'd made it all the way to the store already. He checked the time. The trip had taken three minutes less than expected. He bit back a nervous whine and stepped through the automatic doors. The air-condition hit him hard and he could already feel his skin becoming dehydrated.

Helen greeted him with a wave and showed him out back to the lockers where he would store his jacket.

"To get you started, I want you to follow Warren around for the day and just help him out with anything he's doing, alright?"

"Okay."

He gazed around the store, trying hard to remember what this Warren had looked like. His faulty memory didn't have to ruin his first day at work, though, as Warren swiftly materialized by his side with a friendly smile and a cheerful pat on the back.

"Happy first day! I see you got your uniform shirt," he noticed and winked. "At least you won't be wearing a shirt that doesn't fit you this time then, huh?"

Craig's ears heated up. It had been noticeable, then. "Yeah, that wasn't really my shirt."

"That's something, at least," Warren laughed and led him toward the frozen aisle. "Little brother?" he guessed.

"Boyfriend," Craig answered and made a point not to pay attention to whatever reaction that would earn him from his new coworker.

"Ah." Warren's voice sounded slightly surprised but not condemning in any way. Craig's shoulders loosened some of the tension as the guy began explaining to him how to most efficiently sort the frozen meat by expiration date.

It was fairly easy, the job, but Craig hadn't considered the amount of actual human interaction to be endured during his six-hour shift.

Within the first hour, no less than eight different people had come up to them complaining about such petty things, Craig lost a great deal of faith in the adult part of humanity. Warren handled it flawlessly, though. The seasoned retail worker managed to smile his way through every complaint with a smile and an apology.

When the ninth customer had approached them to voice his opinion on the rising price on organic peanuts, and Warren had once more agreed and apologized to the cranky old man, Craig had to ask. "So the customer's just _always_ right, is that it?"

Warren shrugged, polite smile gone the second the customer had turned his back on them. "Well, that is the store policy. It's not true by any means though. The customer is usually not only wrong, but also a total asshole about it."

That was the only time Craig actually laughed in the span of his first six hours of working.

Tweek hated his neighborhood. Everything about it was just straight out of a crime show. _'Previously on Criminal Minds'_ his mind whispered unhelpfully as he crossed the street with the wall full of bullet holes. He passed an alley that could most certainly be where his body would be found if he were unfortunate enough to get murdered right about now.

He quickened his pace a little. Luckily, his shift that day had been short enough that he'd be able to make it back home before Craig finished his first day at work.

 _'_ _Unless you get murdered on the way home'_ , his brain injected.

"Shut up," he muttered to himself and walked even faster.

He was almost home anyways. A car alarm went off on a street nearby and he jumped a little, making a group of younger teenage boys snigger as he passed them. He hated this neighborhood so much.

The apartment was abandoned when he got home. He'd expected as much. Kenny had the day off and had ventured home to South Park to spend some time with his younger sister who apparently missed him very much. Tweek wondered briefly if Craig had even spoken to Ruby once since moving to CSU. She texted Tweek daily.

An hour passed and Craig stood in his door, looking more exhausted than Tweek had ever seen him before. He didn't even say hello when Tweek opened the door. He just opened his arms with a pathetic expression that demanded a hug. Tweek walked into the waiting arms with a chuckle.

"How was your first day?" he asked. Craig groaned. "That bad?"

Craig let him go and followed him into the apartment. He made a move to remove his jacket but then appeared to rethink his decision and flopped down on the couch instead. Apparently, Tweek was not going to see the ugly shirt just yet. Probably for the best. This might not be the best time to start laughing at Craig.

"I have newfound respect for you," Craig finally said. "How in the fuck have you been doing this for so long?"

"Working?" Tweek asked and sat next to him. Craig nodded.

"One lady yelled at me because _one_ apple was rotten. I have been nowhere near the vegetable aisle throughout the entire shift," he complained, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. Tweek smiled empathetically.

"Yeah, man, that happens sometimes. You learn to smile through it."

Craig snorted and continued. "A dude tried to convince me to pay for his beer 'cause he was - quote - _too scared to steal it_. "

Tweek laughed in disbelief. "Dude, what the fuck?"

"Exactly!" Craig leaned back into the couch with an exhausted sigh. Tweek nudged the boy's knee with his foot in sympathy before getting off the couch to seek out something edible in the kitchen. Craig had texted him about not having had dinner at least four times between leaving the store and showing up on Tweek's doorstep.

"So, the whole day sucked then?" he asked from the kitchen area.

He didn't actually have any proper food since he usually ate whatever leftovers Kenny got to bring home from the restaurant he worked at. Sadly, they were all out of leftovers so he fished a pair of cup noodles out from the back of the cupboard.

"Well, most of the day was fine," Craig admitted and moved from the couch to sit on the kitchen counter instead. "This guy, Warren, was by my side the whole time and he took care of all the customers. But then he had to go to the bathroom and some guy starts complaining to me that there's no more paprika on the shelf. So I go look for some but there isn't any out back either. And then I tell the guy and he starts screaming at me that I've ruined his evening with my incompetence. So I flipped him off-"

"Goddammit, Craig."

"Yeah, he didn't like that either, and he demanded to see my manager," Craig finished.

"Ouch…"

Craig nodded. "I don't think Helen's overly happy with me."

"So," Tweek said, pouring hot water into the noodle cups. "All in all a pretty average day in the retail business, huh?"

Craig groaned and rose from the counter. "Don't even joke about that," he whined. "I have to go back there again Thursday."

Succumbing to the heat of the kitchen, he finally unzipped his jacket and tossed it over the nearest chair. Tweek quickly grabbed his phone of the counter.

"Craig?"

Craig turned around questioningly. "Yeah?"

 _Click!_

"Don't take a picture, you traitor!"

He tackled Tweek to the floor, wrestling and tickling his way to the phone now holding an incriminating picture hostage. He held the phone high above his head triumphantly.

"Too late, man," Tweek spoke through after-shock-giggles. "It's in the Cloud."

Craig narrowed his eyes at him with a dangerous smirk. "You're gonna regret that."


	6. Semi-bad

Craig felt like he'd only just arrived at CSU and yet more than a month had passed. Already, the air was crisp and freezing. Most students around campus had buried themselves beneath so many layers of clothing the halls seemed half the size of when he'd first walked through them.

The cold kept him inside his dorm most of the time. Of course on this particular day, both Stan and Kyle were present in his room, meaning Craig had to leave for somewhere quieter to make his daily phone call to Tweek.

He heard it in Tweek's voice as soon as he answered the phone. The shakiness, the stuttering, and the breathlessness were all there. His boyfriend was not having one of his better days.

"You working today?" he asked carefully. He hoped the answer was no.

" _Yeah_ ," Tweek answered. " _On my way now, actually."_

Craig was somewhat relieved to hear Tweek make it through shorter sentences without stuttering. It was probably more of a semi-bad day than a full-on bad one then. But it could so easily escalate.

"How long are you working tonight?"

" _Till 10."_

Craig held back a groan. Seven hours of human interacting before Tweek could leave a potentially stressful environment.

"Is Kenny home tonight?"

" _No_ ," Tweek answered. " _He's back in South Park for the week."_

"Want me stop by?" Craig tried. "I can come, like, half an hour before your shift ends and follow you home or something?"

"… _No_ …" Tweek answered.

Content-wise, it wasn't exactly an unusual response. Tweek had really meant it when he'd said he wanted to be more on his own, but the way he answered Craig was off. Tweek didn't sound even remotely sure.

Craig honestly didn't get why Tweek would still want to keep aiming for isolated independence even when he was clearly having one of his days. He could spare a day for comfort. Craig thought he was doing really well. Not even complaining once, the boy managed to juggle both school, work and living mostly on his own. Craig could barely even make it through one hour of work without feeling suicidal - or rather homicidal.

It didn't even seem like Tweek was having the financial troubles that most other students did. Craig had been present for a roommate meeting between Kenny and Tweek, watching them divide and pay their bills, and somehow it all added up fine. Sure, it was a fragile balance and Tweek sure as hell didn't have many pennies to spare after every bill was paid, but he made it.

Craig was really proud of him. He really felt like Tweek ought to give himself some credit for doing this well, and maybe stop worrying so much about relying on others. Obviously, he was doing fine.

He talked to his boyfriend for a good ten minutes until the blond had to hang up and start his shift. Then he went back into his dorm room, sighing irritably at Kyle and Stan still being there. At least he didn't have to stand their company for long. He had to work a few hours himself later.

When Craig reentered, both of them were lying on Stan's bed, hiding from the cold under a shared duvet. This despite the fact that the room was already heated up to the point where fall had yet to enter their four walls.

For once, they weren't watching a movie with the noise blasting freely into the room. Instead they were sharing a headset. Stan leaned heavily against Kyle to accommodate the limitations of the headset, and Craig wondered if it ever occurred to them that in moments like these they seemed even gayer than him and Tweek.

"Wait, did he hit that guy?" Kyle wondered aloud. "I can't tell. The resolution's so shitty."

"Of course it is," Stan mumbled. "It's an illegal download of someone's phone recording in the theater. Quality is not really a priority."

Kyle snorted. "Clearly. Doesn't even look like the dude had a good seat. We barely got the whole screen in view."

Stan playfully shoved his shoulder against Kyle's. "Hey, quit complaining. I got us the movie. You got to watch it for free."

Credits began rolling on the screen, and Stan closed the tab and pulled his part of the headphones out of his ear. "So. That was interesting."

"I was right. The book was better," Kyle said. "As always."

Craig climbed into his own bed, determined to ignore the twosome's inevitable movie-versus-books banter. _'I gotta go to work soon, but tell me if you need me to call later,'_ he texted Tweek. He wouldn't get a response any time soon. He knew that. Tweek didn't have his phone on him when he was working.

"Yeah, about that," Stan said. "While you may have a point with this particular case, you're wrong."

Craig glanced up in time to see Kyle arch a skeptical eyebrow, daring Stan to enter debate territory. "Oh, really?"

Stan leaned in close to Kyle who in turn looked like he held his breath for a moment. "Pet Sematary."

Craig rolled his eyes. Not this again. Kyle's eyebrow continued its journey to even higher grounds. "What about it?"

"The movie is way better 'cause you get to skip the boring parts," Stan argued. "In the book, except the cat dying, literally nothing happens until the very end of the book!"

Both Kyle and Craig looked at Stan strangely, though Kyle appeared about thirty percent more surprised. The redhead cleared his throat.

"So," he began. "Basically, you read an entire novel you didn't find entertaining _just_ to prove me wrong?"

Stan leaned in way too close to Kyle's face, keeping a rather intense level of eye contact. "Maybe."

Kyle's face went red, seemingly due to the close proximity, and Craig did absolutely not miss Stan's eyes briefly glancing down at his best friend's lips. The redhead shook it off, changing into a determined expression at impressive speed.

"Well. Tough shit, Stan, I'm still right," he said and began explaining why a long and creepy build up was essential to any good horror story. Craig zoned them out. It was about time for him to get ready for work anyway.

Warren Godwin simultaneously had the best and the worst sense of humor. Craig considered it both a blessing and a curse that they always ended up on the same shifts. It was a blessing because Warren's commentary was funny enough to keep Craig entertained through even the most boring days. On top of that, he also had a way of dealing with customers that meant for a lot less trouble than if Craig had to deal with them on his own.

The reason it also happened to be a curse was because Warren happened to be a prankster, and Craig was his favorite target. This particular shift, Craig opened his locker to an avalanche glitter in his face.

"That's a great look on you, Craig," Warren managed through belly-clenching laughter. "Very festive."

Craig glared at him through bedazzled eyelashes. "Fuck. You. Now I'm gonna be late 'cause I have to wash all this shit off."

"Lighten up. You're not gonna get in trouble," Warren said. "I'll just tell Helen you're cleaning up some mess in the cold storage."

He gave Craig's shoulder a friendly squeeze and immediately began laughing again when his hand came back sparkling.

It was possibly the longest shift Craig had ever endured. Despite Warren's best efforts to bring him out of his own head, Craig was completely occupied with mentally replaying his conversation with Tweek. He kept going back to his locker to check his phone for any new messages. First sign of further distress from Tweek and he'd be out of there. That was a promise.

Warren apparently did not take well to being ignored. He kept asking Craig random questions and shooting rubber bands at him whenever he took too long to respond. He even went as far as to direct every bothersome customer Craig's way to keep him from leaving to check his phone again.

Three hours later, Craig's already unreliable patience was worn thin. "Of course there aren't any _local_ oranges in season. It's fucking _freezing_ outside!" he snapped at the woman complaining about needing to make a cake while only wanting to use local ingredients.

She gasped. "You can't talk to a paying customer like that!" she shrieked. "I'd like a word with your manager, young man."

 _Fuck,_ he'd done it again _._ As if magically summoned, Helen appeared from around the aisle. She apologized for Craig's behavior immediately and offered the woman a discount on her purchase. The woman arrogantly accepted the apology - plus the sizable price reduction - and sashayed away with her nose in the air. Helen turned to Craig, looking absolutely furious.

"My office. _Now."_

The seat of the extra office chair somehow seemed even closer to the floor than it had when Craig had interviewed for the job. His stomach clenched painfully, and he carefully avoided looking into his boss' dark eyes for fear of seeing the rage and disappointment that was bound to be there.

"What the hell is going on in your mind that you think you can talk to our customers like that?" she yelled. He sank even further down the chair.

"I'm sorry…" he muttered, eyes locked on his dirty sneakers.

"Oh, _you're sorry_ ," she repeated. He flinched at the harsh tone, and she sighed. "Look me in the eyes when I'm talking, please."

He met her brown eyes. At least some of the anger had already left her features.

"Look, I've been keeping an eye on you," she said. "I can tell that you've been trying, alright? I can. And Warren says you're doing great - he stands up for you a lot, you know - but you have to understand that this business is founded on happy and loyal customers."

He held his breath, waiting for her to say the word. _Fired._

She didn't. Instead she waited for him to address what she'd just said. He nodded to show her he understood. She exhaled tiredly and got up from her chair. "Alright, then. Let's not have this happen again, shall we?"

"It won't," he said promptly. An impossible promise, but it seemed necessary.

Warren stood waiting when they left the office. He appeared genuinely concerned, looking from Craig to Helen with wide eyes. "What happened? He's not-"

"Nobody's fired," Helen interrupted and glanced at Craig. "Not just yet, at least." She left them both behind and disappeared through the flap doors.

"I'm sorry," Warren said earnestly. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble with Helen."

Craig sighed. "It's fine. Maybe just … _don't_ get me fired. How does that sound?"

"I'll try my very hardest."

Craig went straight for his locker. He needed to check his phone again. It wasn't there. He blinked at the sight of a smiley face sticker where his phone used to be before turning to Warren.

"Did you not _just_ apologize for messing with me?"

Warren flashed him a toothy grin. "To be fair, I hid your phone _before_ you decided to snap at that Soccer Mom."

Craig rolled his eyes and held out his hand expectantly. The prankster fished the phone up from his back pocket and handed it back to him.

No new messages. His lock screen photo of Tweek holding his guinea pig namesake lit up the screen, unobstructed by any notifications. Hovering just a little too close over Craig's shoulder, Warren eyed the picture with an odd look that abruptly turned into a smirk.

"So. Into blondes, are we?"

Across town, Tweek had finally made it. The seventh hour of his shift had passed, and he could finally call it a day. He dashed out from the counter and headed straight for the back office where his jacket and phone waited for him. Craig had left him a message to call him.

"Tweek?"

His coworker Vicky stuck her head through the door. She was a petite CSU student with long auburn hair and round hazel eyes made significantly larger by her thick-rimmed glasses. The big eyes looked corned. He forced himself to smile at his only friend at the cafe.

"Yeah?"

She cleared her throat and pulled at her sleeve. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he lied

She made a face. "You sure?" she tried again.

He lost the smile at the look of worry in her eyes. Honestly, he hadn't thought she'd notice anything about him. It wasn't like he'd had an episode or anything. He had spilt a considerate amount of milk due to his hands shaking all day, though.

"Sorry if it's not really something you want to talk to me about. It's just … " She paused and tilted her head. "You seem a little _off_ today."

He exhaled. "I am…" he muttered under his breath.

"Sorry?"

"I am a little off today," he said. "It's nothing. I'll be fine again later."

She bit her lip. "Really?"

"Yeah," he said and looked everywhere but at her. "Don't worry. I'm just having sort of a bad day."

"Okay." She smiled and made sure to catch his wavering gaze before adding, "Well … I'm here if you need to talk or something."

He smiled, genuinely this time. "Thanks. That means a lot."

The second he left the building he rang up Craig. Clearly, Tweek wasn't the only one having a bad day. It seemed like Craig was having some troubles dealing with customers, and that he was really afraid of losing his job because of it.

"It'll get better," Tweek tried.

" _No, it's not gonna get better_." Craig protested. " _I can't do this job. I'm just not that kind of person._ "

Tweek wanted to offer some kind of comfort, but in all honesty he was too worn. The anxiety had sat in the back of his head all day, whispering doubts and worst-case scenarios into his ear until it took every ounce of focus he possessed to not screw up customers' coffee orders. He was exhausted.

The walk back home in the dark wasn't scary to him anymore. Usually. This night he was unimaginably relieved to have Craig's voice accompanying him. He somewhat regretted not permitting his boyfriend to meet him after work.

 _'_ _He's gonna get really tired of you pushing him away soon'_ the little monster at the back of his head whispered. He flinched.

" _You alrigh_ t?" Craig asked as if he'd somehow noticed through the phone.

"Yeah," he answered and tried to steer his mind back to the conversation he was having.

"You know, it could still get better even if it sucks now," he offered. "I used to hate customer service too, man, but it really helps if you focus on the positive encounters. Good people buy groceries too."

There was a long pause where Craig didn't respond. Then he chuckled. " _Yeah, I guess they do_."

Tweek realized that 'focus on the good parts' was exactly the kind of thing Craig told him when he was having particularly bad days. The thought made him smile a little.

" _How was your day?"_ Craig asked, sounding a littleworried.

"Fine," Tweek lied. Craig made a skeptical noise. "I mean… I made it. I'm nearly home."

" _Do you need me to come by?"_

' _Yes'._

"No, it's okay," he said and unlocked the front door to the building. "I'll call you later, okay? I need to find something edible."

" _Alright. Talk to you later."_

 _"_ Later." Tweek hung up and hurried up the stairs. He was so close to home. It didn't even matter that he'd be alone.

But before he could calm himself with the feeling of being home and away from every stress-factor out there, he froze on the last step of the staircase to his floor.

The door to his apartment stood wide open.


	7. Bad

CHAPTER SEVEN

It wasn't real. It couldn't possibly be. Yet there he stood, eyeing the wooden splinters from his front door, as they lay scattered across the floor. He tried listening for any noise that might be coming from the apartment, but all he heard was his own heart pounding rapidly against his eardrums.

He was about to step across the threshold when it dawned on him. _'Someone could still be in there!_ ' the voice in the back of his head shouted. He took a step back instead and tried listening past his own pulse. There was no other sound. He swallowed, though his mouth was dry, and forced himself to enter. Careful as to not make any noise, he slowly walked in one step at a time, still listening for any indication that he wasn't alone.

The kitchen was not significantly more damaged than usually, but every drawer and cabinet had been opened, and one of the cabinet doors was hanging halfway off its hinges.

The living room was in worse shape. The TV was missing, and so was the Xbox along with all of their console games and DVDs. There was a large crack down the center of the coffee table as if someone had been standing on it in order to remove the TV from the wall. All the couch cushions lay strewn across the floor with dirty footprints all over them.

Tweek swallowed again. The room was spinning a little, and the distinct feeling of his fingers shaking had returned. He forced himself to investigate the bathroom and both of the bedrooms, and he breathed a little easier when he knew for sure he was the only person in the apartment.

Kenny's room was always chaotic, but Tweek could tell in his gut how this was the wrong kind of messy when he checked the space for damage control. Whereas the boy might not care much for tidying up, he did take good care of his things. After all, he worked hard to earn the money to buy them. Tweek knew his roommate would have never allowed for his things to be left so carelessly on the floor that it was hard to spot something still intact.

He felt a small relief in knowing that Kenny had almost definitely brought the computer he'd borrowed from his little sister back to South Park with him. The relief was short-lived when Tweek remembered that Kenny wasn't the only person looking after someone else's belongings.

He bolted into his own room and was momentarily stunned by the obvious lack of a laptop on his desk. There was a visible tremble in his movements as he carefully stepped over his belongings on the floor. He couldn't see the guinea pig cage. Literally all of his clothing had been pulled out from his closet and now covered the corner the cage was supposed to be in.

 _'_ _They're not gonna be there,'_ the voice whispered unhelpfully. ' _People steal pets too, you know'._

Just as he wondered if Craig could ever forgive him if something happened to the guinea pigs on his watch, a muffled squeal came from the pile of clothing. He hurriedly ripped all the clothes away from the cage and let out a relieved sob at the sight of Gwen's little face looking up at him. Not caring for their personal space, he opened the cage and lifted the little house to reveal his namesake guinea pig.

"Thank God," he whispered and sank to the messy floor. "It's okay."

It wasn't okay. He glanced around his room and noticed how he could actually trace the steps of whoever had been there. The footprints on Craig's shirt and all the opened drawers stressed the disgusting thought that someone else had been in his room. Someone uninvited had intruded into this space he'd finally considered safe and taken his possessions. His vision blurred from dizziness. Someone had been _right_ _there_ and _touched_ his things.

Genuinely worried that he was going to be sick, he tumbled to the bathroom. Nothing came and the nausea remained. Tweek curled around himself on the bathroom floor, clutching his chest as it contracted painfully. He recognized the pain along with the increasing difficulty breathing. His kind-of-bad-day had turned really, really bad. He clawed at his pocket for his phone and dialed up the only person he wanted to be there.

Craig was at his door within fifteen minutes. Tweek didn't know if he ever heard the intercom buzz. He wasn't sure if he'd been the one to let Craig in either, but he finally felt the stiff fabric of Craig's ugly work shirt under his fingertips as the boy cradled him close and rubbed soothing circles on his back.

"It's okay," Craig whispered into his hair. "It's alright. You're alright."

Tweek shook his head and buried it deeper into his boyfriend's neck, desperately clinging to Craig's shirt. If he let go, Craig might vanish. That might not be the case; he couldn't risk it.

"Breathe, okay. You gotta breathe." Craig's voice was strained, worried, and Tweek realized just how shallow his own breathing sounded. He tried forcing himself to breathe slower, to follow Craig's breathing pattern, but he still felt like he was choking. The arms around him tightened, and the hand on his back moved to cup the back of his head instead.

"It'll be alright," Craig whispered.

 _'_ _It won't,'_ Tweek's mind disagreed, but his mouth said nothing.

"We'll figure it out," Craig promised, almost like he'd read his mind He exhaled slowly. "I know this is _overwhelming_ but … have you told Kenny yet?"

"N-no," Tweek stammered.

Craig slowly removed an arm from Tweek to reach into his pocket. When he leaned away even just slightly, Tweek whimpered and clung to him even tighter.

"I'm not going to leave you," Craig assured him. Still not letting go of the trembling Tweek, he dialed up Kenny and delivered the bad news.

However Kenny reacted to the news, Tweek couldn't hear it. He'd buried his face into Craig's shirt to hide from the world that seemed so overpowering at that moment. Though, he didn't have a clear feeling of how much time passed, eventually his shaking had subsided and his breathing had synched up with Craig's.

When his thoughts no longer echoed with panic, there was just one thing left: disappointment. He still held on to Craig as if he'd drown should he let go, and he was so disappointed in himself for it.

This was the first time he'd encountered any real obstacle in his newly adult life, and he'd handled it terribly. He'd panicked, broken down, and called for his boyfriend. He hadn't even been able to call Kenny himself.

He'd failed.

* * *

Of all the things to be lost during the break-in, Tweek hadn't even noticed the disappearance of the ones most frustrating to replace. Every single one of his textbooks were gone. Replacing them would prove to be very expensive, Tweek knew, and midterms were coming up. Postponing it wasn't really an option. He'd also have to replace his laptop, but he couldn't even fathom the idea knowing what new books alone would cost him.

He didn't sleep at all that night, despite Craig volunteering to stand guard in place of the ruined lock on the door. By the time the sun rose, Kenny arrived home to face the apartment. He was far more pragmatic when taking in the sight of the trashed apartment.

Having grown up under different conditions, this wasn't not the first time Kenny had had his home broken into, and he made sure to call for someone to replace the door immediately. Tweek hadn't even made it that far in his own thinking. He snuck into the bathroom for some privacy so he could call his parents in an attempt to borrow some money to replace his textbooks and maybe even his computer.

His father answered, and Tweek grasped the phone harder at the sound of his father's calm voice. "Well, hello Tweek. How nice of you to call."

Tweek's breath hitched. This felt so much like begging he almost wanted to hang up again. "Hi Dad, how are you?"

His father sighed loudly. "Well … not too great actually, I'm afraid," he said. "Business sure has been slow lately. Barely a customer in sight all day. Not too fortunate with all those bills piling up. I tell you, that tiramisu latte did not save us the way we hoped, son."

Tweek stomach dropped, and for a moment he felt so light-headed he had to sit down on the toilet seat to prevent a fall. His father seemed to sense his mood shift.

"But that's none of your concerns, of course," he said in a faux cheerful voice. "How are you, Tweek? Everything good with our college boy?"

He couldn't do it. "Y-yeah. Everything's fine," he lied. "Don't worry. I just wanted to check in with you, y-you know…"

"That's nice, Tweek," his father said. A female voice called in the back. "Hang on a second. I think your mother wants to talk to you…"

The second Tweek hung up after convincing his mother that he really was fine, he called his boss, begging for any available shift to be transferred to him. He'd have to do this without any help it would seem.

* * *

While Tweek's plan of taking every shift someone at work wanted to get rid of sure had made him popular among his coworkers, Craig did not quite share their enthusiasm. He barely got to see his boyfriend lately, and it was taking its toll on his mood.

Though Warren had managed to steer him far away from the more bothersome customers lately, Craig's level of customer service had plummeted. Helen had noticed. After receiving yet another talk about how customers where the whole point of the store's existence, Craig could finally call it a day and head for his jacket out back. Thankfully, there had never been another glitter incident in his locker since the first time, but he still tended to feel uneasy whenever he opened it.

"You leaving?" Warren asked from across the room, leaning casually against some shelves full of campaign merchandise.

"Yup. Fucking finally," Craig answered.

"Going straight to the boyfriend's then?"

Craig rolled his eyes irritably. "No."

"Straight home again, huh?" Warren continued with a mocking grin. " _Exciting_."

Craig zipped his jacket and glared Warren straight in the eyes. "Yeah, my life is a non-stop party."

His coworker laughed. "Why don't you just go out or something?" he asked, before adding in his favorite mock old-lady voice, "A handsome fella like you ought to be able to have festive night even without the better half."

Craig snorted and left, waving half-heartedly to Helen on his way out. It was getting far too cold for Craig's liking outside and he semi-ran the whole way home, breathing a grateful sigh when he finally entered his dorm building.

He pulled on the door handle and was actually happy to find it locked for once. That meant Stan wasn't home, and Craig might just finally get to enjoy his room without having to share the space at the same time.

His inner introvert was very excited about that until he realized that his left pocket was empty. He groaned. Trust him to forget his room key at work the one day his roommate wasn't home to let him in. He tried calling Stan three times, but it kept going straight to voicemail. Raking his brain to think of where in the hell Stan might be hiding, he eventually swallowed his pride and phoned Kenny. The store was closed, he had no choice.

"Sorry, dude. I'm not sure where he's supposed to be right now," Kenny apologized before thoughtfully adding, "maybe try Kyle's dorm? There's always about a 50 percent chance they're hanging out."

Craig rolled his eyes. Kyle's room really was an obvious place to look, wasn't it? " _Of course_. Do you know which dorm he's in?"

"Do I know where one of my best friend lives?" Kenny teased. "No, I have no idea."

"I'm way too tired for your games right now, McCormick," Craig growled.

Kenny laughed. "Fine, I'll tell you. But only 'cause you asked so nicely."

Kyle's dorm wasn't too far away from his own. It looked slightly nicer, the walls appearing freshly painted and the floor considerably cleaner than Craig was used to. He located the right door and didn't even bother knocking before barging into the room. He really shouldn't be apart from Tweek this much. It was starting to affect his manners.

The redheaded boy nearly fell from his comfy-looking office chair when Craig entered. He'd been hunched over a big pile of books and from the bags under his eyes he'd been doing far too much late-night studying for his own good.

"What are you doi-"

"Where's Stan?" Craig interrupted.

Kyle blinked. "Why?"

"I left my key at work," Craig explained with an unapologetic shrug. Kyle rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

"His dad came to town to visit, got really drunk and then arrested," the redhead answered. "He'll probably be at the station for a while."

"You're kidding…" Craig groaned. Kyle rummaged through the top drawer of his desk and fished out a key.

"Here," he said and handed it to Craig. "Stan had a copy made for me. You can borrow it."

Craig eyed the key in his palm. It was so much shinier than his own. "Why would he give you a key?"

Kyle rolled his eyes again. "Because Stan loses things," he answered. "Especially if he's been drinking."

"Ah." Craig clutched the key. "Thanks."

"No problem," Kyle said and turned back to his computer and the big pile of books. Craig eyed them curiously. He was pretty confident he knew most of Kyle's classes from overhearing all of his conversations with Stan, but he didn't recognize any of the books on the boy's desk to match those subjects.

"How do you have so much more work than everyone else?" he asked.

Kyle looked mildly annoyed that Craig hadn't left him alone in his room yet. "I just do."

"No, really," Craig said. "You always work faster than me. A lot faster. And even though you apparently aim to spend every waking moment in my dorm, you still leave early every night to study. Why would you have so much more work than me?"

"I-it's nothing," Kyle stammered. Craig narrowed his eyes. He recognized a nervous stutter better than most. Kyle straightened his back when he noticed. "I'm working part-time as a receptionist at a local law firm and it's getting me a little behind."

Craig stared him down, but Kyle had regained his usual confidence and returned the stare without blinking. The kid never backed down. Craig could admire him for that.

The telltale sound of a Facebook message sounded from Kyle's phone. The boy made a panicked noise and quickly moved it out of Craig's reach. The same noise chimed from his laptop, though, and Craig grabbed it off the desk despite loud protests from Kyle.

"When you're done finding that loophole, I need you to pick up a package at the station," Craig read aloud, purposely omitting the opening ' _Hey Jew'_. He glanced at Kyle with an eyebrow arched skeptically. "What loophole?"

"It doesn't concern you," Kyle said through clenched teeth.

"Cartman is trying to get out of prison, isn't he?" Craig guessed. "Why would you help him?"

Kyle said nothing.

"Why? You hate him. And he deserves what he got. He scammed that old couple for literally everything they had," Craig continued. Kyle averted his gaze. "Why would you help him?!"

"I'm not … _helping_ him get out," Kyle said, staring intently out the window. "I'm just … researching something."

Craig stared at the redhead in disbelief. Kyle Broflovski was the biggest moral crusader he knew, safe for the boy's mother. How could he be bothered to lift as much as a pinky to help out someone as corrupt as Eric Cartman? He'd hated the guy since preschool.

Kyle kept stealing worried glances at his phone, and the gears finally halted to a stop in Craig's mind when he arrived at the only possible explanation.

"He's got something on you, doesn't he?"

Kyle's eyes widened. "W-what? No!"

"That's it, though. He's blackmailing you, isn't he?" Craig asked. "What's he got on you?"

Kyle's shoulders slumped and he looked away from Craig again.

"It's about Stan," he guessed, correctly, if the way Kyle's eyes became even wider was any indication. "He's gonna tell Stan that you're in love with him, isn't he?"

Kyle opened his mouth to argue, but Craig cut him off instantly, "Don't even bother lying to me, Broflovski. I've been stuck in the same room as you two every day for more than a month. I'd have to be fucking blind not to notice."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence between them. "Please don't tell him," Kyle pleaded in an uncharacteristically small voice. Craig felt nauseous with pity.

"I'm not going to," he promised. "You should do that on your own, honestly."

"I won't. He's just not into guys and that's fine," Kyle said and released the death-grip on his phone to place in on the desk in front of him. "I just have to wait it out until I get over it, and then I'll be fine. I'm not losing my best friend over this."

The forgotten phone on Kyle's desk started buzzing and the words _'Fat-Ass calling'_ appeared on the screen. Knowing Kyle's moves this time, Craig grabbed the phone off the desk before Kyle could even lift his hand towards it. Craig slid his thumb across the screen and put the phone to his ear.

"Don't," Kyle warned.

"Go fuck yourself," he told Cartman and hung up.

Kyle stared from Craig to the phone in his palm, looking absolutely horrified. Craig felt pretty good about himself.


	8. Empty Stomachs

CHAPTER EIGHT

Exhaustion weighed down every movement Tweek made. The cafe's mugs weren't usually that heavy, but lately they almost demanded a two-hand grip. He was on the seventh hour of a ten-hour-shift, and it took such an effort just to hold a mug under the big machine. He placed the beverage on the tray with the muffin and napkin.

"Soy latte and blueberry muffin for Clara," he called out. A shorthaired woman in an oversized cardigan raised a hand and walked up to claim it.

There was no line. The only other customer at the desk was still looking at the menu so Tweek took a moment to lean back against the cool wall with tired groan. His feet and back ached from standing too long, and too many days in a row. He was working nearly every day lately, but had yet to reap any benefits as there was still a bit of way to go until the next paycheck. All he had was tips, and they sure weren't paying for any textbooks. He'd managed to talk Clyde into lending him his old beaten-up laptop so at least he didn't have to worry about purchasing a new one for at least a couple of weeks. He could live without a functional z-button for that long.

It was starting to take a toll on him to not have his books for school anymore. He was so far behind. Not to mention all the lectures he'd missed or been late for due to his excessive amount of work.

He hadn't spoken to his parents since the night of the break-in. He couldn't bring himself to call them again. It was just too exhausting to pretend that everything was fine. He couldn't manage right now. His mother had sent him a number of text messages wishing him well and inquiring about how he and Craig were doing in college. He could at least lie in writing.

"Alright, I'm gonna get the chai latte," the girl finally decided. "A medium one."

"Sure, that'll be 3 dollars and 25 cents, please," Tweek said through a forced smile as he typed the order into the register.

"Name?"

"Julie."

As Tweek began making the drink, his friend and coworker Vicky walked up behind him, keeping silent until he was all done. Once he'd finished Julie's order, she took over the machine and started what looked to be a big mocha. Tweek eyed her curiously. There were no other customers in the cafe safe for the two women they'd already served.

"Thirsty?" he asked. Vicky shook her head and a few thick strands of her dark hair fell loose from her bun and cascaded down her shoulders.

"No," she answered. "But I think you might be."

She handed him the beverage and he smiled in gratitude. He hadn't even eaten anything since he got there.

"How are you doing?" she asked him. He shrugged.

"I'm fine."

"You've been working a lot lately," she stated. "Doesn't that get problematic with classes and stuff?"

"I just … really need the money right now," he said. "When I've raised enough I'll cut back and focus more on school."

"Well, as long as you can still keep up in class, I suppose it's not too bad to give it a little extra for a while," she mused. "I just wouldn't be able to handle it. All work and no play. How do you even get the time to see your friends? Or that boyfriend of yours?"

Tweek sighed into the drink, resulting in a puff of warm steam shooting right back up in his face. He didn't have the time to see his friends. He barely had the time to squeeze seeing Craig into his schedule. Most of their communication was over the phone these days, since Tweek really didn't have the time to see Craig in person very often. It wasn't that he didn't want to see him, he was just so tired whenever he got back home from work or whatever few classes he managed to attend.

Vicky studied his face. "Maybe you should take a little break. Ten minutes. Get some fresh air," she suggested.

Tweek laughed humorlessly. "Do I really look that tired?" he asked.

She smiled. "Not tired. Just a little _worn_."

He nodded at her and took of his apron. He _was_ worn. Maybe ten minutes out in the cool air would reenergize him a little. He made a quick detour into the office in the back to grab his jacket and phone.

The cool air hit his tired face like an icy ruck. He felt more alert already. It had been so long since he'd last checked his phone, and there were several text messages. Kenny wanted to let him know that he wouldn't be home until the next morning. Craig wanted him to call him when he got the chance and maybe hang out when Tweek was done with his shift. Clyde regretfully had to inform him that he would need the computer he'd borrowed him back dangerously close to midterm.

Tweek closed his eyes and turned his face towards the freezing wind. It was like falling down a mudslide. He just kept sliding further and further down, and every time he thought he could grab onto something, it turned out to be more mud. Slippery and unstable mud. Then he'd lose his grip and continue falling down.

Feeling the need for something stable, he called Craig.

"Hey," his boyfriend answered. "I thought you were working right now."

"I am," Tweek said and cuddled the steaming mug of mocha closer. "There just aren't any customers right now, so I'm taking a little break."

"They won't let you leave earlier just 'cause there isn't anything to do, won't they?" Craig asked. Tweek detected a slight glimmer of hope and was sad to have to crush it.

"No. I still have to stay," Tweek said. "Vicky's shifts ends soon, and my replacement won't be here until I'm supposed to go so…"

"Ah. That's too bad."

Tweek could actually taste Craig's disappointment on his tongue so he took another sip of his drink to vanish it. "You had work to work today too, though, right?" he asked.

"Not until six," Craig answered before sounding calculating. "You get off at four, right?"

"Yeah…" Tweek answered hesitantly, he figured where this was going.

"So, theoretically there is a little less than two hours between you working and me working?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"I'm just saying, the last time I actually saw you in person was eight days ago," Craig stated.

Tweek nearly choked on his next sip. "What? That doesn't sound right-"

"It is," Craig interrupted. "It's been eight days, Tweek. I can stop by the cafe when your shift ends. I wanna see you."

Tweek bit the nail on his left thumb. He hated having to put off seeing Craig again, but he really didn't have the option. "I wanna see you too, but-"

"But what?" Craig sounded exasperated, and Tweek bit down harder on the fingernail. "What is it this time?"

"I have to meet up with someone across town about buying her used textbook," he spoke around his finger.

It was far too expensive to replace all his stolen books with brand new copies. He had to get used ones, and he really wasn't going to find this particular one any cheaper than the deal he'd already gotten someone to agree to..

Craig sighed. "Can't it wait?"

"I'm really far behind already," Tweek said and shook his head as if Craig was actually there to see it. "And she's leaving town tonight so I really have to get the book today."

There was a few seconds of nothing but the sound of Craig breathing. If Tweek didn't know him so well, he might have been spared the ability to read the frustration and disappointment in each puff of air.

"I'm really sorry," he tried.

"I know. I know you're sorry. It's just a little tiring," Craig said. "I never see you anymore."

"Sorry." Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Vicky trying to wave her way to his attention. When she got it, she pointed to the newly formed line of high school students filing into the cafe. He had to go back to work.

"I gotta go," he mumbled into his phone. "Talk to you later."

Another frustrated exhale. "Sure. Later." Then Craig hung up.

Craig had the distinct feeling of being watched as soon as he stepped out onto the floor in his yellow work shirt. How that shirt didn't automatically repel any approaching human with functioning eyes he'd never know. After a while, he put down the box of shampoos he was putting on a lower shelf and stood to glance over the top of the particularly short aisle.

"What?" he demanded.

Warren flashed him an innocent smile. "Nothing. Just checking on you."

"Why?"

"You seem a little down lately," he answered with a shrug. "Something up?"

Craig sighed irritably. He was down. Like he'd told Tweek over the phone, it had been over a week since he last saw him in person. He was well aware the boy was busy with work and school, but only getting to see his boyfriend over FaceTime while the other was simultaneously doing everything else he'd been putting off all day just wasn't enough. He didn't need to be the number one priority in Tweek's life, but he'd still very much like to be a part of it.

"No," he finally answered Warren. "Nothing's up. Just a little tired."

"Well, I'm glad you finally got a little tired of working this job, Craig. I was really starting to get stressed by all that enthusiasm you bring to the place," Warren joked.

Craig smiled. No one had aimed a joke his way in days. Stan and Kyle might spend every waking moment together in his dorm, but their humor contained way too many inside-jokes for Craig to be truly included in the fun.

"Hey, when you're done stocking up shampoo, could you please refill the shelf with the locally grown pineapples next?" Warren asked with a grin and sat down to help out with the shampoos.

"The Colorado pineapples?" Craig asked. "Oh yeah, sure. I'll get right on that. There should still be some available space next to the unicorn saddles."

Warren laughed and glanced up at him with a much softer expression. "There he is. For a moment there, I thought you were gone for good."

Warren's amber eyes bore into Craig's a bit too intensely for his liking, and he had to look away. Instead he watched the boy's hand put the last bottle of shampoo onto the shelf.

"Nope, still here. Sadly."

Warren stood quickly, and the hand moved to lie on top of Craig's that was resting on a higher shelf. The shock at being touched brought Craig's gaze back to Warren. And then there he was, far too close to Craig's face. Leaning in.

Being very new to this kind of situation, it took the feeling of Warren's lips grazing his own to bring Craig back from his state of surprise.

He pushed the boy away. "Stop that!"

A brief look of hurt crossed his eyes, but it was quickly replaced with a cool facade. "Why?" he asked and cocked his head.

"I have a boyfriend!" Craig more or less shouted. The back of his mind whispered that him not being interested in Warren ought to be as good a reason.

Warren stuck his chin out challengingly. "Do you, though?" he asked. "It sure doesn't look that way."

The blond pushed himself off the shelves and left in the same easy pace as he usually walked. Like nothing happened. Craig was about to leave in the other direction when he caught a pair of wide eyes. A teenage girl was staring, but at the sight of his glare, she turned on her heel and left, tucking an offensively orange cellphone into her back pocket.

Craig hurried out back to hide away in the bathroom. He needed a minute away from people.

When Craig finally got off work, the sky was pitch black. His thoughts were so many and noisy he was thankful his legs knew their way home, or he'd have been lost for good. What the hell had happened? He didn't get it. Warren had tried to kiss him. _Warren_. His friend and coworker.

Had he appeared interested in Warren? Sure, they joked around, but all guys did. Dating a guy had never changed his interactions with other guys. Maybe because everyone in South Park had known him his whole life and therefore didn't take his sexuality into account when calculating his behavior.

He wasn't even sure he actually was gay, or if he just really liked Tweek. There was not a single guy before or after Tweek he could remember being even slightly attracted to. What exactly had invited Warren to cross the line, even when he knew Craig was in a relationship with someone else? Did he send out signals? Was he flirting without knowing it? _No. Absolutely not,_ Craig's mind concluded. It was a minor miracle he'd even gotten Tweek. That wasn't even his credit. He had no game. It must have been something else.

Almost home, he realized he was shivering and pulled his jacket closer as he entered campus. Despite wearing about as many layers as he owned clothes, he just hadn't been able to get warm that day. Even the warm air of the dorms didn't do much to warm him up.

He passed a group of guys from one of his classes and gave a halfhearted wave.

"You alright, Craig?" One of them asked. "You don't look too good, buddy."

He didn't feel too good either, but he brushed it off and headed straight for his room. His stomach felt weirdly hollow, but it sort of made sense. He hadn't had much of an appetite and as such hadn't eaten all day.

Inside his room, he passed Stan without as much as a greeting and went straight for the mini fridge. His stomach flipped at the smell and he immediately closed the fridge again.

"Dude, you look like shit," Stan noted from behind his laptop. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," he lied and climbed onto his bed. The room was spinning and his head was still dangerously noisy. God, he needed to see Tweek.

He called his boyfriend, but he didn't answer.


	9. Visits

CHAPTER NINE

If sexual tension was a marketable thing, Craig would have been a millionaire just from being in the same room as Stan and Kyle all the time. He'd just writhe it out of his shirt every night and sell it for profit the next day. He could solve all of Tweek's monetary issues in a goddamn week.

He'd learned not to intrude on their private little bubble, and so he made a point to sit by his desk with his back turned to them. That way he wouldn't have to be annoyed with them for continuing their little charade of sitting too close or staring too intensely into each other's eyes while still pretending to be friends.

Stan might be the densest boy on the planet, but lately he seemed to have realized that the way he and Kyle behaved around each other didn't exactly mirror how he interacted with his other guy friends. Occasionally he'd blink rapidly as if just waking up, and then stop himself from resting against Kyle's shoulder or leaning in too close to his face when telling him something. It would have been amusing to watch if Craig didn't also notice the way the little interruptions made Kyle tense up.

Thus, the inevitable conclusion for Craig was to turn his back on the pair all together. It wasn't his problem; he wasn't getting involved.

 _'_ _How booked are you tonight?'_ Craig texted Tweek, pointedly ignoring the room's other inhabitants while also attempting to study and finish his sandwich.

For some reason, it seemed easier to study than to eat that day. He'd woken up with an odd taste in his mouth and a strange feeling in his gut. He'd originally attributed it to his encounter with Warren the day before, but it was almost five in the afternoon, and he still hadn't found the appetite to finish a whole meal.

 _'_ _Got the closing shift. Sorry'_

Craig sighed and turned the sandwich in his hand. It did not get more attractive to him. He wondered if he should tell Tweek about what happened with Warren at work, but he ended up deciding against it. Tweek being who he was, the boy was bound to make a bigger deal out of it than it had to be. His mind was unhelpfully paranoid like that.

His phone buzzed with a follow-up text from Tweek. _'How's your tomorrow?'_

He bit back the glimmer of hope. It might still not be possible. _'Morning lecture. Then nothing.'_

' _I don't have work till 6,'_ Tweek answered immediately.

Craig stared at the message in disbelief, a big grin spreading slowly across his face. _'Is that an actual gap in both our schedules? At the same time?'_ he wrote hopefully.

 _'_ _Looks like it.'_

 _'_ _Tomorrow sometime after 12?'_ he asked.

His screen lit up with Tweek's _'Yesssssss'_ and the smile on his face grew even wider. _Finally._ He glanced to the side to see Kyle raise an eyebrow at the sudden mood change. He sent him back a pointed look in Stan's direction, and the redhead went back to ignoring him.

There was a tentative knock on their door. The three boys exchanged confused looks. Did they even know anyone who bothered to knock? Being closest to the door, Kyle got up to open. Standing in their door, with her long black hair hanging loose around her shoulders and her blue eyes widening with surprise, was Wendy Testaburger.

" _Wendy?_ " Kyle asked in disbelief. From the sound of his voice, you'd think a dead person, resurrected from the grave, was standing in their doorway, not Stan's ex-girlfriend.

"Oh, hi Kyle," she greeted him when she'd poised herself. "I'm sorry. This is _Stan's_ room, right?"

Stan's head tilted slightly at the sound of his name, and Wendy spotted him quickly over Kyle's shoulder. He was still sitting on his bed, looking very torn between several powerful emotions. Craig had personally never felt more invisible.

"Hey Stan," she said in a much softer voice.

"Uh, hi Wendy," Stan said. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you," she said and walked past Kyle to stand by the foot of the bed. She eyed Kyle and Craig cautiously. "Could we talk … in private?"

The uncomfortably long silence following that question was rudely interrupted by the sound of Craig's phone ringing. He quickly picked it off his desktop and glanced down. Mrs. Tweak was calling.

It wasn't that he'd never talked to her on the phone before. Their calls just tended to be centered around locating or contacting Tweek whenever the boy lost his cell or was in too bad a state to pick up on his own. Tweek was fine now, though. Craig was pretty sure of it.

"Excuse me," he muttered, mostly directed at Wendy, as he got up to leave the room to answer the call.

Although it was confusing that Tweek's mom was calling him, it was a much welcome reason for him to leave that awkward situation. It didn't concern him after all. He wasn't getting involved.

He passed Kyle who stood as if frozen with his fists clenched and his arms crossed. Craig gave him a single sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he walked past him and left the room.

"Hello," he answered when he found a silent corner with a windowsill big enough for him to sit on.

 _"_ _Hello, dear,"_ Tweek's mother spoke in her usual soft voice. _"How are you?"_

"I'm okay. How are you?"

 _"_ _Good, good,"_ she answered. _"Keeping busy with the shop, you know."_

"Of course." He thought he could detect a slight tremor in her voice. It was barely there, but it reminded him so much of how Tweek sounded when he was suppressing concerns that he felt like the boy's mom probably had another purpose for calling than just to check up.

 _"_ _I know you're probably busy with your studies, but I just wanted to know…"_ she started

"Yeah?" he encouraged.

 _"_ _Have you been seeing much of Tweek lately?"_ she asked. Craig hesitated. He knew Tweek hadn't told his parent about the break-in, and it really wasn't his place to be the one to break the news.

"… Not in person," he said. He couldn't out right lie to her. "But we speak on the phone every day."

 _"_ _Oh, okay,"_ she muttered, voice wavering a little more this time. _"That's … good, at least."_

A part of Craig worried she knew something about Tweek he didn't. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

 _"_ _That's … what I wanted to ask you, actually,"_ she said carefully. _"Is he alright? He seems a little off lately when I call him. And he keeps insisting that nothing is wrong, of course, but I just have a feeling. And I can't let that feeling go, you know."_

He knew. He'd been dating her son long enough to recognize that kind of thought pattern. Tweek did it, too. He'd latch on to a thought that seemed insignificant at first. Then he'd twist and turn it into any possible scenario, until he'd convinced himself that the absolutely worst outcome was the only reasonable way for things to end.

"He's just a little stressed lately," Craig explained in a calming tone he usually reserved for her son. "He's working a little more than he's used to. But he'll be alright."

She exhaled loudly as if she'd been holding her breath waiting for his response. _"I see."_

"He'll be fine," Craig insisted. "Don't worry. I'm keeping an eye on him."

 _"_ _Of course. That's good,"_ she said, sounding significantly better _. "I know you're always there for him, Craig, but I do worry."_

"That's understandable," he said. "But I am here for him. Always. He'll be alright."

Then as an afterthought he added, "In fact, I'm seeing him again tomorrow."

 _"_ _That's good. I'm glad."_ She sounded like she was smiling. " _Well, as long as he's got you, I suppose it really will be alright, then."_

"It will," he promised. He almost felt the need to cross his fingers since he couldn't possibly make those kinds of promises, but he didn't. Because he would do anything in his power to ensure that Tweek would in fact be all right.

 _"_ _Just promise me that you'll call me if something -_ anything _\- happens to him,"_ she said more severely. Craig smiled at the motherly display of protectiveness.

"I promise," he said. "I'll tell him you said hi when I see him tomorrow, alright?"

 _"_ _That would be lovely,"_ she said. _"Thank you, dear."_

However much Craig had looked forward to see Tweek again the next day, he knew it couldn't happen before he even opened his eyes. He woke up bathed in sweat. His head was spinning with dizziness, and he barely made it to the trashcan by his desk before emptying his stomach for every bite of food he'd managed to get down the night before.

"Aw, dude. _No_ ," Stan whined from his bed. "You're gonna make me throw up too."

"Sorry to be of inconvenience to you," Craig muttered spitefully and spat into the can one final time. "I thought you left with Wendy."

Stan stumbled out of bed with a queasy look on his face. He eyed Craig's vomit bin with disgust before heading straight for his dresser. "She drove back to South Park to stay with her family. It's not like she can stay _here_."

"The fuck did she come all the way from Massachusetts for anyways?" Craig wondered aloud while Stan got dressed and ready to evacuate the smelly dorm room.

"Who the fuck knows," Stan muttered before retrieving his jacket off the floor and fleeing the room with a "get well soon". Craig winced at the sound of the door slamming. His head was killing him. There was no way he was making it to that morning lecture.

Trying to stand, but swaying pitifully from side to side, he hated to admit that he wasn't making it to his meet-up with Tweek either. With great effort, he pulled himself up into his bed, cursing himself for choosing the elevated one every step of the way. He curled up under the covers and grabbed his phone from underneath the pillow. His head was still spinning, and he figured he should probably call Tweek before he ended up sleeping again.

 _"_ _Dude, don't tell me you're skipping your lecture,"_ Tweek said when he picked up the phone. Craig eyed the clock on the wall across from his bed. He hadn't even noticed how much time had passed. The lecture started twenty minutes ago.

"I had to actually," he said and groaned as another wave of nausea hit him hard. Why was the trash can so far away again? Tweek picked up on the difference in his voice immediately.

 _"_ _What's wrong with you?"_ he asked.

Craig groaned again. He hadn't been this sick in years, and he was pretty unaccustomed to the amount of self-pity he was currently feeling.

"I think I'm sick. I don't know. I feel like shit," he said. "I'm sorry. I can't make it today."

 _"_ _Sick? Sick how?"_

"Like everything hurts … and I'm dizzy … just a little, though," Craig answered. His stomach turned. "And now I have to throw up again. Shit, sorry. Hang on."

He barely made it to the trashcan. There was absolutely no food left in his system, and he spent a good four minutes dry heaving before picking up the phone he'd dropped a few feet away.

"Sorry," he said and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I'm back."

 _"_ _Get the fuck back to bed."_

Craig glanced up at the bed once more several steps up in the air. He'd never missed his home this much. Looking at the trashcan full of sick, knowing he was the one who would have to clean it up, he'd honestly never missed his mother so much either.

"I'm going," he said. He eyed the first step. "Soon."

 _"_ _Go back to bed and stay there 'till you feel better,"_ Tweek ordered. It might have been the first time Craig had ever felt slightly good about hearing concern tint his boyfriend's words.

He pulled himself back up in his bed, panting and groaning the entire way.

 _"_ _Are you dying?"_ Tweek asked.

 _Yes,_ Craig's mind yelled. "I don't think so," he answered and buried himself under the covers.

 _"_ _You have to tell me if you're dying, man."_

"I will," he promised. "I'm not, though."

 _"_ _Alright."_ He didn't believe him. _"Get some rest. I'll see you soon."_

Craig was only semi-sure he ever told Tweek goodbye before drifting off into a dazed sleep. He woke up when he thought someone was at his door. The knocking on the door was so soft, Craig wondered if Wendy had returned.

He was vaguely aware that whoever it was must have been knocking for a while, but he couldn't find the motivation to get up. He heard the sound of another person approaching the door, and then Stan's voice asking questions.

"Hang on. I'll let you in," Stan finally said. The door was unlocked, and either there were two sets of footsteps, or Craig's ears were lying to him again.

One of Craig's arms was dangling off the side of the bed, and upon the feel of someone grabbing his hand, he finally opened his eyes to see what all that noise was about. Big chestnut brown eyes that could only belong to his boyfriend looked back at him with massive amounts of sympathy.

"Hey you," Tweek greeted him. "You're awake."

"Yeah."

The part of Craig that wasn't preoccupied with feeling immensely sorry for himself was relieved to see that Tweek looked about as composed as he got despite obviously being worried.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Awful," Craig answered truthfully. "When did you get here?"

Tweek glanced at the clock out of instinct. "Fifteen minutes ago," he answered. "Stan let me in."

As if waiting for his name to be brought up, Stan made his way to Tweek's side. "You good here on your own?" he asked, looking uncertainly between Tweek and Craig.

"We're good," Tweek answered. "Thanks for letting me in, man."

Stan shrugged. "No problem." He grabbed his phone charger off his desk and moved to leave. "I gotta go meet Wendy. See ya later."

Craig whined when the door was slammed again. Did Stan not know he was splitting Craig's head in two every time he did that?

Tweek let go of Craig's hand to take of his jacket. He eyed Craig's elevated bed calculatingly before eventually deciding to also remove his shoes.

"I'm coming up, okay?" he said as he ascended the steps with his bag. The bed was just big enough that Tweek could sit himself next to Craig after he scooted over. Tweek opened his bag and pulled out a water bottle and some pills wrapped in tin foil.

"Take these," he said and held them in front of Craig.

"I don't need to," Craig muttered into his pillow. He didn't like pills. He liked them even less when nausea was still pushing at the back of his throat.

"Yes, you do," Tweek insisted, staring him down. Sometimes Craig forgot that Tweek could be stubborn too. Most of the time Tweek was the least assertive person on the planet, but when he really believed in a cause, he wasn't backing down for anything. Craig was too weak to argue. He admitted defeat and swallowed the pills.

"Thank you." Tweek flashed him a radiant smile. Craig would have rolled his eyes, had his head not been hurting too much to permit it. He couldn't fight that smile. It wasn't fair, and Tweek knew.

"Can you eat?" Tweek asked.

Craig's stomach growled simultaneously as another wave of nausea rolled over him. "No."

"You should, though."

"I _can't_."

"I brought soup," Tweek said, ending the argument at that. He fished one of his thermoses, usually resigned for coffee only, out of his bag. "You should at least try some. It's only gonna get worse if you're fighting it on an empty stomach, dude."

Craig attempted to glare at him, but it probably wasn't as effective as normally. He was weak, and Tweek was gorgeous. Tweek stared him down again, not blinking once. Craig groaned.

"One sip," he said. "I'll try one sip."

"Two."

" _Tweek_."

"Two sips and I won't push it anymore," he offered. Craig tried glaring at him again, but his empty stomach protested loudly. He sighed in defeat at reached for the thermos.

"You should sit up straight," Tweek said. "You're less likely to be sick then."

"Sounds made up, but okay," Craig muttered as he sat up with Tweek's help. The blond tucked his pillow neatly against the bed frame to fit his back, and Crag sent him a small, grateful smile.

He screwed the top of the thermos and tried smelling the soup. He couldn't. His nose was too stuffed. Looked like chicken, though. He forced the two sips down, and then a third when he felt somewhat sure he could actually keep it down.

"You didn't have to come all the way here just to watch me be sick," Craig said, despite being extremely thankful for the company.

Having him so close again, Craig remembered how long it had been since he'd seen him in person. It was stupid really. It was just at little over a week, after all, but for all the years they'd been together, they'd rarely gone more than a day or two without seeing each other again. Lately, the closest he'd been to being near Tweek physically was when he dropped off food, treats and bedding for his guinea pigs while the blond was at work. Thank God, Craig had a key to the apartment, or he'd never see his pets anymore either.

Tweek watched him take an extra sip of the soup and then brushed some of his hair out of his face for him when he put the thermos down again.

"I want to be here," he said. "You shouldn't be all alone when you're sick."

Craig took his hand and entwined their fingers. Every one of Tweek's nails was bitten down, and a part of Craig felt bad for only just noticing it. Even if he did have a somewhat reasonable excuse. His nails weren't the only part of Tweek that seemed in less pristine condition than the last time he'd seen him in person. Tweek looked exhausted. He had darker circles under his eyes than Craig had seen in years, and his shirt was clearly buttoned wrong under that sweater.

"I'm really sorry," Tweek spoke suddenly, breaking the comfortably silence Craig had spent watching him.

"'Bout what?"

Tweek eyed him sadly. "About being away so much," he muttered and moved to put a finger near his mouth. Craig grabbed it to stop him from biting.

"That's okay," he said and stroked the back of Tweek's hand. It was nice to feel Tweek's skin under his fingers again, he thought. The soup and pills must have been helping a bit if he was present enough to notice.

Tweek was staring at their joint hands, looking way guiltier than he had any right to be. "I get it if you're mad at me," he said.

Craig squeezed his hand at the sadness in his voice. "I'm not mad at you," he promised. Tweek didn't look like he believed him in the slightest, but he meant it. He wasn't mad at Tweek - he almost never got mad at Tweek - he was mad at the situation. And the situation was, hopefully, a temporary one. He was sure Tweek had worked enough that his next paycheck would allow him to relax a bit. Everything would be all right then.

He was sure he could reassure Tweek that they were going to be alright much better if he wasn't feeling like shit, and he made a mental note to remember this conversation when he was back to normal. He knew that a lot of Tweek's anxious thoughts took him in a direction where it seemed like Craig was fed up with his quirks and ready to leave him for someone better. Tweek didn't know that to Craig, there was no one better.

When Craig had managed just a little more food, Tweek fetched his computer and put on some stupid cartoon show. They snuggled up close under Craig's duvet and before even the first episode had ended, Craig was fast asleep.


	10. Not Dying

CHAPTER TEN

Despite Tweek's paranoid predictions, Craig survived the flu. A full week later, he stepped back under the florescent lights of the supermarket, feeling a lot better. That wasn't even just health wise; he felt like an actual overall better version of himself, even in spite of the scratchy yellow shirt. For once, he didn't feel that constant frustration with every human being around him.

He'd spent most of the week in bed, attending only a few classes whenever he felt well enough to sit upright without caving under nausea or fever. Thankfully, most of the nausea had vanished the day after Tweek had stopped by. Tweek took full credit for that particular recovery, crediting his ability to force soup down Craig's throat. The fever had lasted a little while longer, but he was finally over it and ready to return to his regular boring life again.

Recovering from the flu wasn't the only thing to brighten up his overall mood. Another thing to unexpectedly cheer him up was a phone call from home. He'd made a habit out of calling his mother once a week to ensure her he was still alive. If she were near his father when he called, he'd even speak to him as well, warranting him regular updates from home.

Someone whose voice he hadn't expected to hear while sick in bed was Ruby. Since moving away he hadn't called her once, nor had she ever been put on the phone when he was speaking with their mother. However mean it might sound, he really hadn't given his little sister much thought since leaving home for college. That's why he had been very surprised to see her name on the screen when she called him on his phone.

It had been weird to speak to her again, if only because absolutely nothing about their sibling dynamic had changed despite not having talked since August. She'd complained about their parents and her braces not being ready to come off yet, and he'd agreed with her half the time and mocked her the rest. Same as always.

However ordinary a call, Craig was oddly content emotionally after hanging up. It was nice to have that one constant that didn't change in the slightest no matter how much time had passed. There was a weird sense of comfort in that.

Tweek had visited him a few more times since that first afternoon. Going from not seeing his boyfriend at all to seeing him almost daily was a much welcome change that made Craig forgive any treason his body might have committed.

The blond had been forced to visit late nights and unbearably early mornings to accommodate his busy work schedule. He didn't actually had much time to spare, but apparently it was impossible for Tweek to cope with Craig being sick without getting regular visual proof that he wasn't dying. And so, Tweek had spent more time in his dorm room that week than during the entire rest of the time Craig had been living there.

Initially, Stan had been annoyed by how frequently Tweek stopped by to check up on Craig, but he only made the mistake of bringing it up to Craig once. Craig only had to remind Stan just how many times his best buddy Kyle had occupied their room without Craig's verbal consent. 56 times. Craig kept count. Upon mentioning Kyle, Stan had clammed up and not spoken a word to Craig since. Wendy might have finally gone back to her school, but Kyle was a touchy subject at the moment.

The store was different from the last time he'd been there. For one, every single aisle had been moved. Absolutely nothing was where it had been before Craig got sick. According to Helen, it was good for business to move things around every couple of months. If the customers didn't know where to find their items, they'd be forced to search all the aisles, thereby picking up a lot of stuff they didn't actually need due to the power of temptation.Craig thought it was cheating, but mostly he was just annoyed that he now had absolutely no clue where to direct the confused customers. He didn't know either.

Another thing different from usual was Warren, or rather the absence of him. Craig wondered if he'd ever worked a shift without Warren before. He didn't think so. It was tempting to ask Helen about his coworker's absence, but he couldn't bring himself to actually do it. Maybe it was because of him, maybe it wasn't. Either way, it wasn't actually his business, and honestly, he was a bit relieved to not have the other one around considering what had happened the last time he'd seen him.

Whatever peace Warren's absence brought him, though, was slightly marred by there being no one left to take care of problematic customers for him. The girl working the shift with him was even newer to the job than he was, and whenever a customer raised their voice, she looked about ready to start crying.

"Where the hell did you move the canned goods to?" an angry bearded man yelled at him. Craig had sensed the man's mood from aisles away and had courteously made sure to move himself close enough that he wouldn't take his obvious frustrations out on the new girl. Craig could handle being yelled at.

"I don't know, sir," Craig answered honestly. "I can't find shit either."

The man opened and closed his mouth. It must have been fairly uncommon for him to get that kind of honesty from retail workers. He clutched his belly and laughed.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. "You know you messed up when even the people working here don't know where you put stuff."

"Yeah, it's a pain. I'm sorry. But I'll help you look for it, alright?" Craig asked, relieved that at least the man wasn't yelling anymore. "Then we'll both know for next time."

The man chucked. "Alright. Yeah, I guess that's the way then. How about you do us both a favor and tell your boss to stop moving shit around so much, huh?"

"Oh, I will," Craig promised with a smile and a roll of his eyes as they searched the store together.

When the man had found his canned soup and thanked Craig for helping him, Craig turned around to see a smiling Helen. That confused him. She rarely smiled at him - he honestly wasn't that good at his job.

"Well," she said. "I guess all you needed was a fever to sweat out that attitude, huh?"

He smiled. "I guess."

"Good job, kid," she said and patted him on the back as she walked pass him to stop the new girl from knocking over a pyramid of grapefruits.

To celebrate Craig not dying, Tweek had made sure his entire afternoon was free to hang out. Craig had been looking forward to it all morning, making it his primary motivation to not let work or the new layout of the store ruin his mood.

They had agreed to meet in a small coffee house near campus. Craig was the one to suggest meeting for coffee; Tweek was the one to insist they did so anywhere but the place he worked. He spent enough hours of his life within those walls as it was.

The coffee house was only a fraction of the size of Tweek's workplace, and Craig probably wouldn't even have noticed the door if his boyfriend hadn't been waiting for him next to it.

His shoulders dropped when he got close enough to notice the trembling in the boy's hands. Tweek looked half his actual size, standing hunched over himself with his shoulders drawn closely together. Today was not a good day, it would seem. He forced the concern and frustration off his face before calling attention to himself.

"Hey."

Tweek jumped at the sound but smiled broadly when he caught sight of him. Craig opened his arms in perfect time for Tweek to take just one step into them. At least they didn't get out of sync from being too far apart either. He pretended not to be bothered by the way Tweek's almost nailless fingers dug desperately into his sides and instead made sure to hold the blond tighter. Craig could actively feel the trembles going through Tweek's shoulders and made sure not to let him go before they ended. Once they stopped, he loosened his grip and waited for Tweek to let go of his own accord so they could finally get out of the cold. It took a while.

The place was almost too tiny to house the only three tables in there, and every inch of the walls was covered in vintage posters. Craig felt slightly claustrophobic, but at least Tweek tended to relax better in smaller spaces.

The elderly woman behind the counter perched at the sight of customers and greeted them with a massive smile. Craig ordered his black coffee before both he and the woman turned to Tweek. The blond's eyes were fastened to the board on the wall behind the counter as he read the menu far too closely for someone that familiar with coffee. Craig followed his gaze to the part of the sign he was actually reading.

"Don't worry about it. I'm paying," he said.

Tweek started and then shook his head in embarrassment. "What? N-no. That's not it. I'm just-"

"I said I'm paying," Craig interrupted with enough conviction for Tweek to back down. The boy bit his lip and offered a weak smile.

"Thanks. I'll just have what he's having," he told the woman who smiled and accepted Craig's money before pouring two oversized mugs full of pitch-black coffee.

Craig let Tweek pick a table and then made sure to sit by his side rather than across from him. That way he could easily snake an arm around Tweek's tense shoulders. When he did, the boy leaned back into him with a deep sigh.

"How was work?" Tweek muttered as he started fiddling with Craig's hoodie string. Craig shrugged as best he could with the other boy leaning so heavily against him.

"Fine, I guess," he answered. "Helen didn't seem to hate me all that much today. So… small win, I guess."

Tweek pulled on a loose thread on the string. "Maybe she's just relieved you didn't die," he offered.

Craig rolled his eyes. "For the last time, I wasn't dying."

"You could have dehydrated," Tweek argued seriously. "Or starved. Or fallen out of bed from the dizziness."

"… just how tall do you think my bed is?"

"If you land on your neck, that doesn't matter."

"I feel like it should matter a little," Craig objected before changing the subject. "How was your morning?"

Tweek's hands stilled and let go of the hoodie string. "… Not my best," he muttered.

One of his hands was ascending towards his teeth. Craig grabbed it, entwined their fingers and pulled it back down.

"What happened?" he asked.

Tweek kept his eyes on their joint hands, though it didn't seem like he was seeing anything at all. He sighed loudly.

"I didn't sleep well again last night, so I was really tired, and when I went to make coffee, I dropped my phone, and now the screen is cracked," he babbled without a single pause or intake of breath. "I can't afford a new phone too!"

"Let me see," Craig insisted.

Tweek dug his phone out of his pocket and placed it in Craig's waiting hand with no objections. Craig examined it and offered a reassuring smile. He'd half expected to see the entire thing shattered beyond repair, but in reality most of the phone looked the same as it always did. The top left corner was cracked, but the rest of the greasy screen was perfectly visible and functional. Considering who the phone belonged to, it looked fine.

"That's not too bad," he said. "It's just the corner. Still works, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Tweek muttered and took the phone back, observing it with a disapproving frown. "It's just annoying."

He put the phone down on the table in front of them and gave it a look as though it had personally offended him by not surviving the fall in one piece.

"Still works, though," Craig offered. "So you don't have to add that to your expense list just yet."

Tweek smiled, mostly in acknowledgement of Craig's attempt to make him feel better. He was still not having the best of days anxiety-wise, Craig could tell, but at least he couldn't feel any sign of trembling in the hand he was holding. Just semi-bad then. He leaned in to place a kiss on Tweek's temple just as the phone vibrated loudly against the tabletop. Craig's stomach dropped when he read Cartman's name on the injured screen.

"Hey, maybe you shouldn't…" Craig began, but it was too late. Tweek had already picked up his phone and unlocked it. All he could do was watch and read the text from the infamously vindictive asshole Craig had told tried to keep from blackmailing Kyle.

 _'_ _Hey Tweek. Are you guys okay? I'm just a little concerned, you know … considering what's happened …'_

"What does he mean-" Tweek started as another message arrived. This one with a picture. A picture of Warren coming on to Craig. Or as it would appear from that angle; a picture of Craig kissing another guy in the middle of the supermarket.

The wiser choice of action would be to instantly stop Tweek's mind from reaching the obvious conclusion it was no doubt heading to. Sadly, the picture caught Craig so off guard he said the wrong words instead.

"How the fuck did he see that?!"

Tweek jerked out of Craig's grasp with a scoff. " _How did he SEE that?!"_ he repeated in a shrill voice. _"That's_ your concern. You're just going around, making out with other guys, and Cartman's the one in the wrong 'cause he took a fucking picture?!"

" _What_?" Craig's stomach clenched when he realized his mistake. "You don't seriously think I would actually-"

"I didn't think that. No," Tweek said, voice trembling. "But obviously I was wrong about that, wasn't I?" He held up the picture on his phone. His hand was shaking so bad, Craig could hardly even see it anymore.

The accusation morphed Craig's disbelief into anger. "Is that how little you trust me after all these fucking years?" he yelled to overpower the sound of his own heart beating loudly against his eardrum.

"You can't argue with a fucking picture, Craig!" Tweek yelled back. His voice shook as badly as the rest of him at this point, and he'd pushed himself even further away from Craig.

"Not if you won't let me explain it," Craig spat. "I'm telling you, it's not what it looks-"

"Oh, it's not what it looks like? 'Cause from where I'm sitting, it seems pretty fucking obvious what it looks like!"

"Will you just listen? I didn't kiss Warren, he-"

"Warren? So, you're cheating on me with that guy from work? Well, I'm sure your morning must have been a lot more fun than mine, then!"

"I'm not-" Craig began, choking on his own words as his throat closed up. "Will you just listen-"

"No, I think I'm about done listening." Tweek pushed himself to his feet, eyes gleaming with angry tears. "I c-can't… I can't look at you right now." The blond ripped his jacket off the back of his chair and stormed out of the small coffee house.

"Tweek!" Craig called after him. It was too late. The door slammed closed, and the boy was gone.

Craig wasn't entirely sure when he'd started crying himself, but his face was wet with frustrated tears when he grabbed his own jacket and left the shop and a dumbfounded old lady behind.


	11. Parallel

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Craig knew Stan was fed up with his bad mood, but he couldn't bring himself to care. The last couple of days had been rough, and all the anger he couldn't take out on Tweek, Craig took out on the rest of the world.

He knew he wasn't a joy to be around. He slammed every door he went through, spoke every word through clenched teeth and had yet to respond to a single joke anyone would make in an attempt to cheer him up or just to make him stop glaring.

Tweek wasn't answering his calls or texts. Once the worst of Craig's immediate anger had faded, and reason was able to fit inside his mind again, he had known the best course of action to be reaching out. They needed to talk, not yell, and Tweek needed to hear why he shouldn't think Craig was cheating on him. That was why Craig had decided he would be the one to take that first step towards reconciliation. He would be the one to reach out first. Sadly, after two whole days of nonstop calling and texting, he had to accept the facts of reality: Tweek wasn't answering his phone, because Tweek didn't want to speak to him.

This realization served only to further fuel his anger which in turn pushed out all of that sense and reason he had just gotten room for in his mind. Craig was back to being pissed. Though the rational part of him knew that obviously Tweek's paranoia and insecurities were bound to push the boy towards the wrong conclusion, a bigger part of him was still wounded it had happened. And once the hurt melted into the anger, Craig stopped trying to contact Tweek.

They had never gone this long without making up after a fight, and however much he didn't feel like he was the one who had to apologize, it freaked him out a little. Possibly more than just a little. Usually they had always been able to patch things up. None of them particularly enjoyed wasting energy being angry, and they rarely had much reason to be angry at each other in the first place.

The distance wasn't helping either. Throughout all of their years together, the one thing that always seemed to ensure them getting over any quarrels was the forced proximity. They had been stuck in the same classrooms for most of their lives. Avoiding each other had never really been an option. Until now.

For the first time ever, Tweek was actually able to completely avoid him. They didn't take the same classes, they didn't work the same place - Tweek didn't even live on campus. Not seeing each other naturally every day complicated things more than Craig would have thought it possible.

With no end to their fight in sight, Craig had bound himself to his dorm room. Stan was not happy about it.

"Don't you have classes or work or … Tweek … to attend to?" his roommate asked with an exasperated sigh when Craig slammed their door again. Stan could handle Craig in small doses. Only in small doses.

"Nope," Craig muttered and sat himself by the window. At least the weather had the decency to look as shitty as he felt. He could feel Stan watching him and made a point of not looking. He had noticed how the irritation in Stan's eyes had turned to pity a while ago.

"You should get out more," he stated. "Whatever problems you're having right now, it's really not getting any better by staying here all day and hating the entire world."

"I'm content hating the world for now," Craig replied bitterly. "But thank you for your expert advice."

The malice in his voice was almost enough to get his roommate to back off and leave him alone. Stan was no quitter, though.

"My friend told me about this party later tonight," he tried. "I'm going. You should come, too."

Craig turned his gaze away from the gloomy view to look Stan in the eyes. He wasn't kidding. Craig laughed humorlessly.

"I'm not going," he said.

Stan obviously wanted to take that no for an answer, but still he didn't cave. "I think you should come. I'm not saying you have to socialize, but you could use a night away from this room, dude. You're rotting away in here."

Craig rolled his eyes and turned back to the window. Was it hailing outside or were the raindrops just enormous?

Stan took a deep breath to prepare for the final blow. "You really wanna pass up a change to get too drunk to remember why you're pissed?"

Craig turned around to look at Stan. Stan raised his eyebrows in an open challenge. Craig groaned. "Fine. I'll go."

By the time Tweek reached his apartment, his breathing had somewhat returned to normal. His face continued to burn from embarrassment. Throughout his life, he had gotten pretty accustomed to the judging eyes of the involuntary witnesses to his episodes. This day marked a sad occasion as being the first time his Fort Collins coworkers had seen him have an actual meltdown.

He shouldn't have gone to work in the first place. He had known. From the second he sat up in bed after a long night of not sleeping, he had known. This was a day better spent in bed, away from people who would see. Despite his better judgment, he had gone to work anyway, and what a mistake that had been.

The morning rush of people wanting coffee before work always made him slightly uncomfortable, even on his best days. Today, upon the first breath of an anxious thought ghosting against the back of his brain, his initial instinct had been to wish for Craig to be there to calm him down. The thought had barely entered his mind before he remembered just why Craig would not be there to calm him this time. _He's probably off with Warren somewhere anyway_ , the voice in his head whispered unhelpfully.

And he'd lost it. The claustrophobic pressure of too many people in line collided with that unbearable panic of losing Craig he had spent all night building up. He hadn't noticed falling or sitting down, yet he found himself on the floor amongst the spilled coffee grounds anyway, clutching his head and heaving for air as hot tears steamed down his cheeks.

His boss, a thirty-something-year-old woman with three nose rings, had more or less dragged him out back to her office. When she failed to figure out exactly what was wrong with her usually hardest-working barista, she had urged him to take the rest of the day off since he clearly _wasn't feeling well today_. Tweek had wanted to argue, but he didn't have the strength. He had agreed and left as soon as he could trust his legs to carry him again.

The second he unlocked the door to his apartment his ears were met with the sound of a pair of voices. For a moment his breath caught. He couldn't cope with company right now. He peered around the corner and exhaled in relief. Thankfully, it was just Kenny talking to his sister with his phone on speaker while he was doing the dishes.

"Heeeeey," Kenny greeted him with an easy smile. "Look who's home early."

" _Who? Who's home early?"_ Karen McCormick's voice called from where Kenny had abandoned her on the counter.

"It's Tweek, Karen," Kenny explained with a roll of his eyes. His smile dropped immediately when he saw Tweek's face. "What's the matter?"

Tweek offered a weak smile and then shook his head. This he couldn't cope with either. He quickly escaped to his room. He threw his things on the bed and slid to the floor next to the guinea pig cage. Gwen glanced up from her food dish to give him a curious look.

He carefully lifted her out of the cage and into his lap just as Kenny opened his door. His roommate wasn't the knocking-before-entering type of guy. Tweek kept his eyes on the rodent in his lap and continued to stroke the coarse fur while Kenny made the walk across his room.

"So," Kenny began, dropping to the floor next to Tweek. "Wanna talk about?"

Gwen squirmed a little in Tweek's grasp at the noise but relaxed when Kenny held a hand out for her to sniff.

"Not really," Tweek answered. He was a little surprised at how raw his voice sounded.

Kenny was watching him, patiently waiting for him to say something, but Tweek wasn't sure what to say. So he kept his mouth shut and continued to pet Gwen instead.

"Did they send you home, or did you leave on you own?" Kenny asked bluntly.

"They sent me," Tweek answered. He frowned. How embarrassing would it be when he returned for his next shift?

"Since you look more miserable than sick, I'm gonna take a wild leap here and say you had a little episode at work today?" Kenny said. Tweek nodded, and his roommate sighed.

"Alright. This is gonna make me sound like an ass, I know, but," he said, "I'm honestly surprised it took you this long to snap."

Tweek turned his head to finally look at Kenny. " _What_?"

The boy offered him an apologetic smile. "I'm just saying … you've been stretching yourself so thin lately, this was kind of inevitable," he said. "No one can give a 110 percent all the time."

Tweek swallowed and slumped further down the wall. Gwen gave a moody squeal, and Kenny carefully lifted her away from Tweek's lap and onto his own. _Good_ , Tweek thought dejectedly. She was better off on steadier grounds anyway.

"I- I know it hasn't been ideal, but I just thought…" he trailed off and shook his head. "I'm so fucking exhausted, Kenny. I don't even know anymore."

Kenny made sure Gwen was resting securely against his one arm and draped the other around Tweek's shoulder in a comforting motion reminding Tweek so much of Craig that his stomach clenched painfully.

"I know," Kenny said. "I get that you think it's entirely up to you to make everything alright again, but it's really okay to let someone else take some loads off your shoulders, you know?"

Tweek was about to question just who was going to help him out now that Craig wasn't just a call away anymore. Then he realized he hadn't actually talked to anyone about his fight with Craig yet. Not even Kenny whom he shared a home with. Before he could even consider saying anything, their intercom buzzed.

Kenny put Gwen back in her cage and left Tweek's room to answer it. He'd never been as paranoid as Tweek about answering calls from strangers. Tweek would have ignored it. After answering the intercom, Kenny came right back.

"There's a girl here to see you," he said and then turned back around to unlock the front door.

Tweek furrowed his brows. What girl would come here to see him and not Kenny? He pushed himself up and entered the living room just as Kenny let Vicky into their apartment. Her big eyes caught his immediately, and she offered him a tentative smile.

"Hi Tweek. Sorry to barge in," she said and then glanced at Kenny curiously. "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. Since, you know …"

"Yeah. That's … nice of you. I'm okay, though," he lied. "Really. But thanks."

She raised an eyebrow so high it almost surpassed the upper frame of her enormous glasses. Kenny coughed, and Tweek remembered his existence again.

"Oh, sorry," Tweek apologized. "Vicky, this is my roommate Kenny. Kenny, this is Vicky. She's a friend from work."

"Nice to meet you," Kenny said with a friendly grin and held out a hand.

Vicky shook it with a faint blush on her cheeks. "Likewise."

She turned back to Tweek, and Kenny finally pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning against. "Well, I promised my sister I'd call her back so…" he said and went into his room, for once actually closing his door.

Since Vicky in no way looked like she was satisfied with Tweek's lie or would be willing to leave anytime soon, he gestured for her to sit down on the couch. She flattened her skirt as she sat down and shook the woolen trench coat off her shoulders.

Then she fixed her eyes on him again. "How are you?" she asked. "Really?"

Tweek had half a mind to lie again, but since she obviously wasn't buying it, it would probably be a waste of energy. He was weary enough as it was.

"I'm just… tired from all the extra work," he began.

Vicky said nothing. She nodded to indicate that he should keep talking. He continued.

"And … I'm kind of in a bad place with Craig, too, and it was all just … a-a little too much today. So I freaked. I do that sometimes."

"I've never seen you freak before," she stated. He bit his lip.

"No, this was the first time it's happened at work - well, that work - before so I get if you don't think it would seem like it's something I do… but it is."

"Anxiety?" she guessed. He nodded. "My mom has that. Or, I guess, one version of that. She freaks out sometimes too."

She reached forward and took his hand. "You know, that really doesn't have to change anyone's opinion of you," she said as if she'd heard his thoughts from earlier. When he covered his face in his free hand and scoffed, she added, "Don't think we're suddenly gonna be different when you come back to work."

"Even if you won't, the others-"

"The others adore you," she interrupted him. "Granted, that might have a lot to do with you always being willing to take an extra shift when someone needs time off. But they all agree they like you."

Tweek looked up from behind his hand. "Really?" he asked. " _Why_?"

"You're really easy to work with," she said with a comforting smile. "You're a really nice guy, and you do your job well. People appreciate that."

He tried smiling back at her, but it was as if his face was stone, too solid to move. Vicky's words were nice to hear, but he found it hard to truly believe them.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Maybe today was a sign that you shouldn't be working yourself so hard," she speculated. "You told me that you'd only be working so much for a little while. Maybe that little while should end now?"

He shook his head. "Can't. I still need money for a few more things. This paycheck only just barely covered replacing my textbooks. I still have to replace my computer. And the Xbox. And-"

"Is any computer or game console really worth this much stress?" she asked. "Especially if you're also going through some stuff with your boyfriend. And on top of that, you've got be falling behind on your school work."

"Very much so," he admitted.

"There," she said. "See, you shouldn't have to deal with so much at once. Tweek, that's not healthy."

His eyes stung. It was the first time he really heard those words out loud and thought they might have some truth to them.

"I just…" he said, voice wavering. "I just wanted to be able to do this. To take care of my problems by myself. Like an adult. I'm so fucking tired of always being the weaker one."

Vicky's eyebrows rose. "Why on Earth would you think that you're weak?" she asked, seemingly genuinely taken aback.

He blinked. "Because I am?" he said uncertainly. "I've always been the weak one. I've always been so damn dependent on everyone else, my parents were actually really worried about letting me leave for college. I don't think they would've let me go if Craig hadn't been going too."

She fixed him with a hard look. "Well, I don't think you're weak at all!" she said and squeezed his hand. "Honestly, I always thought you seemed really independent and put together. I think it's amazing that you can work enough to support yourself and go to school at the same time."

Her gaze got a little too intense for him so he looked away timidly. "Maybe you're right," he said. "Maybe I could work a little less."

"Absolutely!" she said enthusiastically. "Take some time off. Enjoy your youth!"

He smiled. It was easier this time.

"Hey," she said when she immediately took notice of the change in his mood. "There's this party I'm going to later tonight. Wanna come with me?"

Tweek's immediate thought was to turn her down, but then he actually considered it. He realized that despite considering Vicky his friend, they had never spent any time together outside of work. Maybe he could actually benefit from a night out with a friend who cared about him.

"Sure," he said. She clapped her hands excitedly.

"Yes! That's the spirit!"

Kenny stuck his head out from his room then. "What happened? We're happy now?" he asked.

"I guess," Tweek answered him, "we're going out tonight."

"Got room for one more on this quest of fun tonight?" Kenny asked, wiggling his eyebrows at them. Vicky giggled.

"Sure," she laughed. "You come, too."

It was on the bus ride to the party Craig realized this must have been the first time he and Stan were hanging out alone since elementary school. Back then Craig had learned it was best not to get caught up in the shenanigans of Stan and his friends. They tended to end up in fucked up places, and Craig had been fed up with crazy from an early age.

It was also strange to be this close to Stan alone on purpose. Sure, they shared a room now, but they didn't spend any time together. Even if they were in the room at the same time, they tended to live their individual lives parallel to each other, barely ever interacting. They pretty much only talked when Kyle visited and forced his and Stan's conversation on Craig.

Needless to say, the bus ride was uncomfortably silent, and both of them pretended to be on their phones the whole way. Craig wasn't entirely sure why Stan bothered bringing him along in the first place. Even if things were weird between him and Kyle, he was pretty outgoing and popular with the other students. Surely, he had other people who would be willing to go with him. Craig hoped some of those people would be at the party. That way Stan would be entertained, and Craig could drink in peace.

He wasn't typically one to drink his sorrows away, but the idea became increasingly enticing for every time he glanced at his phone to see the background picture of Tweek, and no new messages.

When they finally got off the stuffy bus and made it to the right street, Craig eyed the building warily. This block appeared even sketchier than the one Tweek and Kenny lived in. Even worse, every person hanging around the building they were heading towards was wearing thick-rimmed glasses, suspenders or ironic t-shirts. He even noticed an alarming amount of fedoras.

"Just what kind of hipster party are you dragging me to, Marsh?" he asked, but Stan was barely paying him any mind. His eyes was scanning every face in the crowd, obviously looking for someone as they made their way up a million stairs in a dimly lit hallway. The party was on the top floor, so close to the roof Craig thought he could feel a breeze when they got nearer.

"Come on," Stan mumbled. "My buddy is in here somewhere. He's got the beer."

In that case, Craig was looking forward to meet him. Even though that apparently meant them clawing their way through what had to be an illegal amount of people for such a small studio apartment.

A tall guy in his early twenties waved at them from one of the two windows. He lifted two six-packs in the air in greeting. Stan grinned.

"See?" he said and motioned for Craig to follow him towards the man.

The guy's name was Mike. With his grossly over-styled mustache and plaid shirt, he fit in well with the crowd. After 20 minutes of talking, Craig still had no clue how the hell he and Stan had become friends.

Though Stan was friendly enough with the guy, it wasn't like he was wildly enthusiastic about talking to him, or even paying him much attention. The boy was so caught up in visually scanning the crowd that Mike was forced to talk to Craig until a girl dragged him off to be introduced to a new arrival. Thankfully, Mike left the beer behind.

Stan barely seemed to notice his friend's absence, and even though Craig had been content to ignore his roommate in favor of beer, curiosity eventually got the better of him.

"Who are you looking for?" he asked after downing the last sip of his first beer.

Stan jumped a little and masked his face in feigned confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked innocently and handed Craig another beer.

Craig lifted an eyebrow at him to express his skepticism, but didn't bother to officially call Stan on his bullshit. He wasn't that interested, and it wasn't like it mattered much to him personally.

Soon enough, Stan spotted the person he had been looking for across the room by the front door. Kyle was standing against the wall with a red cup in his hand, and some guy leaning over him. The guy whispered something in Kyle's ear, causing the redhead to laugh loudly and shake his head at him in response.

Craig eyed Stan. The poor guy looked so torn about whether or not to approach them. Several times he leaned forward, as if to take a step, before changing his mind and taking another sip of his beer instead. Just when he looked like he had made up his mind to stay with Craig, Kyle leaned forward to rest his hand on the guy's arm while laughing at another joke. Stan crossed the room.

Craig watched with a mix of pity and fascination as Stan loudly inserted himself into the conversation. Both Kyle and the guy jumped. Stan moved to stand by Kyle's side, much too close not to make a statement, and although he appeared to enter the conversation with friendly and casual questions, the hard look in his eyes did not match the attempt at an easy smile on his lips.

Craig had half a mind to go to him, to stop whatever stupid thing his roommate was about to embarrass himself with. In the end, he decided it wasn't his place to get involved. While talking, Stan made wide gestures with his arms to make it look less obvious when he put an arm around Kyle's shoulders. The other guy took the hint and left. Kyle looked furious. He pushed Stan away and yelled at him. The room drowned out most of it, but Craig thought he could distinctly hear the redhead tell Stan to make up his damn mind as he stomped away from his best friend and out of the front door.

Craig's eyes followed Kyle out and then fixed on the two new people who entered instead. It was a sight he had in no way been prepared for. He paused mid-sip as the petite girl with huge glasses pulled Tweek - his Tweek - by the sleeve into the apartment.

Tweek looked every bit as worn as the last time he'd seen him, and Craig felt a sharp pinch of guilt in his stomach. His boyfriend had been in a bad state before the fight, and it wasn't likely there hadn't been much of a chance for it to improve since. Craig wondered if he should draw attention to himself or if it would be better to hide. The choice was made for him.

The girl with Tweek smiled broadly at a friend across the room, standing not too far to Craig's left. When Tweek followed her gaze across the room, his eyes locked with Craig's and widened in surprise. The girl noticed too, and when Tweek moved to leave, she blocked his way. She shook her head and nudged him gently towards Craig with an encouraging nod and words too quiet to hear across the room.

Craig couldn't for the life of him remember if he actually knew who she was, but he was forever in her debt when Tweek's shoulders slumped in defeat and he turned to walk towards Craig rather than the exit. Craig met him halfway, which left them standing awkwardly in the middle of the apartment where three drunken girls were attempting to start a dance floor.

"Hi," Craig started.

Having him this close, he desperately wanted to cling on to Tweek and hug him close until everything was okay again, but he could sense from the boy's stance it would not be well received at the moment.

"I'll just go back downstairs and talk to your friend for a minute, okay?" the girl told Tweek with a tentative smile. Tweek looked like all he wanted to do was follow her, but he nodded stiffly in defeat. She patted him on the arm, fixed Craig with a pointed look and swirled around towards the door.

"What are you doing here?" Tweek asked him. He was standing too far away. Craig took a slow step towards him. Tweek twitched a little but made no move to back away.

"Stan dragged me with him," he explained. "I think he meant to corner Broflovski here."

"Oh." Tweek glanced towards the door. "They're still…?"

"Yeah… How did you get here?" Craig asked.

"Vicky - from the cafe - she thought it would be a good idea for me to get outside without going to work for once so…"

Craig nodded. "Valid point."

"Yeah."

"Listen …" he tried. "I've been trying to call you,"

"I noticed," Tweek answered drily.

Craig narrowed his eyes at him. "But you didn't answer," he pointed out. A small tremor of shaking had started to take hold of Tweek's shoulders and fingers, he noticed. The boy looked so distressed to be having this conversation, Craig was feeling a bit sorry for him. Conflict was a lot more stressful to Tweek than most, but he couldn't just let Tweek leave without trying to patch things up. Things needed to go back to normal soon, and apparently that wasn't just suddenly going to happen automatically.

Tweek bit his lip. "I-I just wasn't ready to talk to you, okay?" he stuttered, eyes glued to the exit. Normally, Craig would take his hand when he was stuttering. He didn't know what was appropriate to do now.

"Why?" Craig demanded. Why was he so adamant about not letting Craig explain why everything wasn't as bad as he assumed it was?

Tweek's eyes flew from the door to Craig's face, on the verge of tears and absolutely livid.

" _Why_?" he repeated. "After what you did-"

"You mean after what you _think_ I did!" Craig interrupted. This was the wrong approach. He could tell immediately, but found himself far too stubborn to correct himself. It wasn't untrue either. This wasn't all on him, and he refused to let it be.

Tweek scoffed and pulled on his hair. "What do you mean what I _think_ you did?" he yelled. No drunken girls were trying to dance around the fuming boys anymore. They had effectively cleared the floor in an apartment with no extra space. "There's a fucking picture-"

"From Eric Cartman!" Craig screamed in frustration. "Growing up with him you'd think you'd know not to believe everything he says."

"That's really convenient for you, isn't it?" Tweek spat. "He's a dick so whatever he says about you can't possibly be true."

"I'm not saying it can't be true. I'm saying, maybe add some perspective!" Craig argued. "You're the one who loves conspiracy theories. Maybe think a little-"

"Oh, so it's all just a fucking conspiracy against you," Tweek said. He wasn't yelling anymore. Somehow that was actually worse.

"You know what? I can't." He shook his head and took a massive step back. "I just can't," he muttered, then turned and left through the door.

Craig's core froze to ice as he continued to watch the door for a minor eternity. The people who'd been eagerly listening in on their conversation grew bored of his frozen state and returned to their party. Stan's mustachioed friend appeared by his side.

"Ugh, rough night," he muttered and gave Craig an awkward pat on the back. "How 'bout we get you another beer? You look like you need it."

Craig shook his head. "N-no," he declined. "Thanks. I … um, I gotta…" He vaguely pointed at the door, and Mike held up his hands in surrendering acceptance.

"Alright," he said. "Get home safe."

A small voice in the back of Craig's head scolded him for not giving the customary 'you too', but he was already halfway out the door when it occurred to him.

He needed to get away. The panic was slowly but surely building up in his stomach and spreading through his veins. The stairs seemed steeper than before, and he found himself tripping three times on his way down.

Never before had a fight continued on like this. They had always been able to get past things, talk it out. Tweek had never shut him out like that before, and a part of him was starting to fear what would happen if he didn't ever actually get the chance to explain to his boyfriend that he had nothing to worry about. _His boyfriend_. Would Tweek even want to continue being his boyfriend if he couldn't get enough past his fears to listen to Craig's side of the story?

Craig halted at the final step of the staircase. What if he wouldn't? Would that just be it? He found it harder to catch his breath suddenly, and had to lean against the cool concrete wall for a couple of minutes before pushing the door open.

His skin was almost too numb to register the cool night air when he entered the street. Most of the people who had being hanging around when he got there must have migrated up into the apartment by now. There was just a couple of smokers left. Barely noticing anything in the mist of his distressed mind, he walked right into one of them.

"Sorry," he mumbled and tried to walk around the person.

"Craig?" someone said as a cigarette-holding arm moved to block his path. He glanced up to look into the concerned face of Kenny McCormick and felt like screaming. Could this night just end already?


	12. Friendships

CHAPTER TWELVE

Craig was not in the mood for any more human contact. All he wanted was to go back home to his bed, curl up in the fetal position, and wait for that horrible feeling in his gut to disappear. And if one were to make a list of all the people Craig felt the least like talking to, Kenny McCormick was pretty damn far up that list.

He tried maneuvering around the tall blond, but Kenny was not having it. He easily stepped along with Craig and blocked his path, even casually putting out his cigarette in the process.

"Craig, what's wrong?" Kenny asked. "Was that Tweek storming out just now? What happened?"

"Move," Craig said, ignoring the questions. His voice was far shakier than he wanted it to be and barely made it past the lump in his throat. He opted for trying to step around Kenny once more, but the boy wasn't letting him. Kenny evaded Craig's attempt to forcefully push past him and then grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Craig, tell me what happened," he urged.

Craig opened his mouth with the intent to tell him to fuck off and mind his own business, but all that left him was an ugly choking sob.

Once the first had escaped, there was no holding the rest back. Craig was crying in the middle of the street before he could even attempt to get around Kenny one more time. He was so mad at himself. He was mad at himself for having pissed off Cartman, and he was mad at himself for not telling Tweek about Warren until it had been too late. More than anything, he was furious with himself for not having been able to fix things before they had gotten out of hand. Another emotion to hit him hard was the crushing embarrassment of not only crying in public, but also crying in front of _Kenny_. He felt utterly humiliated, and it didn't help that the few people around them were taking notice of his meltdown.

Kenny leaned in closer to his face, hands still holding on to Craig's shoulders.

"Hey. It's gonna be alright," Kenny said reassuringly. "Come on. Let's take a little walk, okay?"

Normally, Craig would have fought him on it and refused to spend any more time in his old classmate's presence than he absolutely had to. But the energy wasn't there anymore. He was too upset to fight or run. So he nodded once and let Kenny guide him away from the party. They walked in silence while Craig desperately tried to stop crying. When he had finally managed to at least stop the outright sobbing, they had reached a less shady-looking neighborhood. Following Kenny, he crossed the street to a small playground. There were only two swings, but it was too late for any children to be out playing anyway. They took one each, sitting for a few minutes before Kenny broke the silence.

"Tell me what happened," he said.

Craig clenched his fist so tightly around the chains of the swing it cut painfully into his hand. Then he began to explain everything. He told Kenny about his new job, and what had happened with Warren and how someone must have taken a picture without him noticing. Kenny nodded along calmly as he then told him about Tweek seeing the picture, and how he had been too freaked out to let Craig explain it.

"I really fucked up," Craig muttered at the end. "I should have said something before. Then he wouldn't have immediately believed in that stupid photo."

He angrily kicked some dirt away from under his shoe and pointedly didn't meet Kenny's gaze.

"You couldn't know this was gonna happen," Kenny offered.

"If I hadn't gone and pissed off Cartman then none of this would have happened," Craig spat. "You'd think I'd know better."

Kenny sighed. "You couldn't know."

"Of course I could! He's been blackmailing Kyle for weeks, and I thought I could just jump in and tell him to fuck off and then there wouldn't be any consequences," Craig continued. Kenny's eyebrows furrowed immediately at the mention of Kyle. "I know the guy! I should have known better than to interrupt his little scheme."

"You should never regret standing up to Eric Cartman," Kenny said forcefully. "It's a fucking pain, and a lot of times it doesn't end well. But you should never regret it. Cartman needs to be stopped regularly. He does fucked up shit, and he should not be able to get away with it just because it's too much trouble to get involved."

Craig leaned his cheek against the cool metal of the swing's chain. If only he had stopped after telling Cartman to fuck off on Kyle's phone. But he hadn't. Cartman had FaceTimed Kyle on his computer shortly after to demand an apology. Made cocky by the distance, Craig had threatened him, saying that if he kept blackmailing Kyle, he would personally come back to South Park to make sure the police found out about it.

"But what if he fucked this up for me permanently. Then what?" he wondered, terrified at the mere thought. "What if I've lost Tweek forever and it's all because I couldn't keep my fucking mouth shut?"

"You haven't lost Tweek," Kenny assured him. "He's gonna need a while, but eventually he's gonna allow for someone to explain how it all is. This just caught him at a really bad time. I'm sure deep down, beneath all that fear, he really does trust that you wouldn't actually cheat on him. Just give him a little time to stop freaking out."

Craig didn't respond. A big part of him was still regretting his actions leading up to this. Though he usually would have never thought that anything could mess with something as solid as what he had with Tweek, he wasn't so sure anymore. This was unprecedented. He couldn't be a hundred percent sure Tweek would come around. If he didn't, this state of misery would be permanent. All because of what he had done. Craig's breathing was getting erratic. Kenny reached out and padded him on the back.

"I know this fucking sucks, but for what it's worth, I'm really glad you did it," he said. "Look, I care about Kyle, a lot. He's one of my best friends, and I really appreciate you helping him."

Craig hummed. He wasn't sure he was ready to stop regretting it.

Kenny continued, "I'm serious. He's had a rough year so far. I've been worried, but he never told me about the Cartman stuff."

Craig snorted. "Just the Stan stuff then?"

Kenny sighed. "Guess you'd have to notice that when you share a living space with one of them, huh?"

"It's the Super Best Friends, dude," Craig muttered. "I've been sharing my living space with the both of them." Then he added, "Well, at least until Wendy came back."

Kenny groaned and ran a hand through his blond hair. "Yeah… she messed up the timeline," he said. "I thought for sure that eventually Stan would finally figure shit out with her in Massachusetts. You won't believe the texts I've been getting. From both Stan and Kyle. Especially these last few days. Shit. You'd think the world was ending."

"Maybe it is," Craig mused miserably.

"Maybe, but probably not," Kenny said with confidence. "But honestly, that was my main reason for coming tonight. I knew they'd both be here. And I could tell from the look of Tweek's little work buddy, she'd be going here too. That's why I tagged along. Figured they might need some emotional backup tonight."

"Did they?" Craig asked.

"I think so," Kenny said with obvious regret. "They slipped right past me, though. So I don't know for sure."

"I guess this is just a night for things slipping away, isn't it?" Craig said.

"Just give him time," Kenny advised again.

"I don't have time. I can't just sit here and be miserable and hope for some positive resolution," Craig said.

Kenny eyed him thoughtfully for a moment. "How come so much of your life has to revolve around Tweek?" he wondered.

Craig blinked. "What do you mean?" he asked. Kenny shrugged.

"I'm just wondering. How is it that you can be content to have this much of your life and wellbeing revolve around one person?"

"Because I love him?"

"Yeah, I get that, but don't you want _some_ independence? Have some part of you that isn't totally tied to him?"

"I don't know…"

"Look, I'm not saying I'm right," Kenny clarified. "Honestly, I just can't wrap my head around why anyone would want to be that tied down to another person _all the time_. I'd need my space, I guess."

Even though Kenny made it sound like he was just speaking for himself, Craig could easily hear the underlying concern, and he was right. Craig had zero interests that didn't involve Tweek. Well, he supposed he had his guinea pigs, but they were currently a little out of reach. Maybe he did need a hobby or something.

"I suppose I can at least try to find something to distract me for a little while," he said, even though he didn't quite believe it. Not thinking about Tweek was unrealistic, but he could make an effort to find something to get him out of bed in the morning.

"Great idea," Kenny said excitedly. "People with hobbies are way more interesting, you know. Just, don't start hoarding or collecting animals until you got your own place, promise?"

Craig smiled before remembering the animals he already owned. "How are my guinea pigs, by the way?" he asked. "I mean … I haven't had a chance to see them these last couple of days with everything that's been going on with Tweek…"

"He's taking good care of them," Kenny assured him. "Don't worry."

"I know he is," Craig said. "I just miss 'em a little."

"Understandable," Kenny grinned. "The black one is fucking adorable."

Craig beamed. "That's Gwen."

"Yeah, right. She's hilarious. Haven't seen much of the other one, though."

"She's not too fond of strangers," Craig muttered. He smiled, thinking about how much time he had originally spent coaxing Guinea Pig-Tweek into trusting him and letting him pet her. Kenny chuckled.

"How are we not friends?" Kenny asked. He sounded genuinely curious.

Craig snapped out of his state of guinea pig appreciation and glared at him. "You seriously don't know?"

"Dude," Kenny laughed, quickly figuring out what Craig referred to. "I am in no way a threat to you. I'm sorry I pissed you off that one time. I shouldn't have kissed your boyfriend even if it did prove a point."

Craig glared at him. Kenny continued, "I assure you, it won't ever happen again."

"Is that so?"

"Nope. I'm not into guys. Not even guys as cute as Tweek," he said with a wink.

Craig chuckled and shook his head. Tweek had been pestering him forever about why he insisted on being angry with Kenny, and aside from what had happened, Kenny was a decent guy. Craig knew that.

"Alright, fine," he caved. "You're off the hook."

"Praise Jesus!" Kenny exclaimed and dramatically threw his hands into the air. "Two years, but it finally fucking happened."

It was barely noon when the bus dropped Kenny off in South Park. He had gotten up way earlier than he preferred to make sure he could deal with this as soon as possible. Tweek hadn't been up yet. At least Kenny didn't think so. His door had been closed, but from his appearance lately, it didn't look like Tweek actually managed to get his eight hours of sleep every night. Kenny frowned. All the more reason for him to hurry up with this particular mission of his.

He wasn't really doing this for Tweek and Craig, if he was being honest with himself. He was primarily doing it for Kyle. Kyle had been one of his closest and most supporting friends since he was almost too young to even know what a friend was. Kenny was usually an expert in reading his friends. Throughout their many years together, Stan and Kyle had rarely needed to tell Kenny about their troubles. He'd just known. During their childhood, he hadn't been as vocal as the rest of them. Instead he had spent a lot of his youth observing his friends, memorizing their mannerisms and predicting their moods in a way Stan often said was borderline creepy.

Because of that, Kenny couldn't help feeling like he had failed them. Sure he had noticed a change in Stan and Kyle's dynamic, and obviously he had known the reasons behind it. He figured out Kyle's feelings for Stan years ago, before the boy even truly realized them himself. They had an unspoken agreement to not talk about it. Kyle knew that Kenny knew, but he didn't want him involved, and for the most part Kenny respected that.

At least until he had noticed the little changes in Stan. It had started back in the ninth grade during one of Stan's many break-ups with Wendy. The two best friends had spent nearly an entire month's worth of nights together, having almost daily sleepovers as Kyle attempted to cheer Stan up.

Following that month, Stan had treated Kyle differently. Not in an obvious way, but Kenny had noticed anyway. The way his gaze would linger too long on Kyle's face, or the sudden awareness of personal space. However, when Kenny had tried bringing it to Kyle's attention, the boy had shut him down immediately. Kyle was terrified of losing his best friend. Stan was so important to Kyle that he would rather suffer in his unrequited love than risk altering their status as best friends. Kenny thought it was ridiculous, but eventually he had to agree with Kyle. Even if a part of Stan returned Kyle's feelings, they couldn't be sure he was really aware of it - or willing to let it sway his current perception of himself and his sexuality. There was no way of knowing how Stan would react to this. So Kenny had kept his mouth shut. For Kyle.

Sadly, Cartman didn't care for Kyle the way Kenny did. Not only did the fat boy have zero interest in the wellbeing of others, he was also far too fond of watching Kyle suffer. Kenny was angry with himself for not having considered the possibility that Cartman could have figured the Stan-Kyle situation out - and of course decided to take advantage of the situation. It was dangerous to underestimate Cartman, and Kenny was pissed he had allowed himself to do it.

No more, he thought determinately as he strolled through the streets of his hometown. He was putting an end to this today.

The green house came into view as he turned around another corner. Since Cartman was still awaiting trial for his latest crime, he was to continue staying with his mother while everyone else had left for college - or work, in Kenny's case.

It had been such a typical move for Eric Cartman. Never a fan of school or honest labor, Cartman had no intentions of going to college or getting a job. In his attempt to obtain enough easy money to live without either, he had discovered an elderly couple living on the edge of town, almost completely isolated by their disabilities and lack of concerned relatives. The Goodmans had acquired a hefty sum of money through the lawsuit following Mrs. Goodman's accident, and unfortunately for them Cartman had heard this on the news. He had pretended to be their long-lost grandson, finally coming back to reconcile and be a family.

A month later, everything the Goodmans owned was Cartman's. Their money, their car and every piece of valuable property; all his. He almost got away with it, leaving the elderly couple to fend for themselves without a dime to their name. If the Goodmans' actual daughter and grandson hadn't shown up to question a post about the grandson on Mr. Goodman's Facebook profile, Cartman might have made it out of town with everything they owned.

He had been arrested in the middle of the town, yelling and screaming as the police handcuffed and dragged him away. It would have been quite a spectacle for such a small town, if that town hadn't been South Park. They had seen worse.

When he rang the doorbell he heard the familiar cry of Cartman yelling for his mom to answer the door. Liane did as her son told her to.

"Oh, Kenny," she greeted him with a polite smile. "How nice to see you. Eric's up in his room. Do you want me to call for him?"

"No, that's okay," Kenny waved her off. "I'd rather just go up to him, if that's alright?"

"Sure thing, dear. Come on in."

"Thanks." Kenny flashed her a charming grin as he walked past her. Taking two steps at a time, he was at Cartman's door within seconds. He didn't bother knocking.

Cartman's room was a mess of candy wrappers and empty soda cans. Kenny wasn't typically bothered by a little messiness, but the stench burned his nostrils in a way that told him Cartman hadn't bothered to air out the room since middle school. When he entered, Cartman was slouched across his bed. Upon the intrusion, he looked up irritably from behind his laptop.

"Mom! I told you not-" he interrupted himself when he noticed someone very much not his mother striding through the door. "Kenny? The fuck are you doing here?"

Kenny carefully placed a calm smile on his face. "I'm here 'cause you and I need to talk."

Cartman snorted. "That's gay. 'Bout what?"

Kenny seized the back of the chair by the desk and wheeled it close to the bed so he could sit within talking distance without actually having to be seated on Cartman's dirty bed.

"About Kyle," he said, careful to keep the easy smile on his face despite his initiate instinct to attack the asshole hurting his friend. You had to be careful around Cartman if you wanted the upper hand. And he needed the upper hand.

Cartman narrowed his eyes immediately. He realized why Kenny was here. The question was how much he was willing to admit to. He smoothed his features into the definition of innocence.

"What about Kyle?" he asked, voice lighter than even Karen's.

Kenny had no patience for playing though. "About how you're threatening to tell Stan about him unless he gets you out of jail." Kenny said calmly.

The fat boy dropped his mask of innocence. "What about it?" he asked. "It doesn't concern you."

"Oh, but it does," Kenny said, not bothering to smile anymore. "It does concern me when you're blackmailing one of my best friends."

"Picking sides now?" Cartman asked, now openly glaring at him.

He had never forgiven the group for gradually excluding him over the years. They had been such a close-knit group when they were kids, but when as they grew older, Cartman's behavior got worse. Or maybe not worse, Kenny pondered. It wasn't like he had done worse than the time he forced a kid to eat his parents. But even if he didn't get significantly worse in behavior, it did become more difficult for the others to cope with him. As they got older and realized that you don't actually have to stay friends with the same people throughout your entire life, they had slowly but surely cut Cartman's toxic presence from their daily lives.

It had initially been Kyle's decision, him having had the most issues with Cartman growing up, and where Kyle went, Stan followed - and soon enough Kenny too. By the end of high school they had stopped including the abusive teen in their activities and no longer bothered talking to him whenever they saw him around. Kenny was certain Cartman was resentful about it. No one held a grudge like him.

"Definitely," Kenny answered his question.

"Too bad," Cartman said. "It's not like I'm really doing anything bad here. If Kyle doesn't wanna do it, he can just get over himself and tell Stan he's got a boner for him. If anything I'm doing him a favor here."

Kenny scoffed. "A favor, huh?" he repeated.

"If he told Stan himself, he wouldn't have to be such a fucking downer anymore. He should just get it over with."

" _Anyways_ ," Kenny said, irritated but determined to keep the conversation on the right track. "I'm gonna need you to stop. You need to back off Kyle and Stan. And Craig and Tweek too for that matter."

Cartman smirked confidently. "Or what?" he challenged.

"Or I tell the cops you've been breaking the law," Kenny threatened. "Blackmailing is a crime and I doubt you need anymore to defend yourself against in court at the moment."

Cartman's eyes widened for a moment. Then he laughed mockingly. "You can't prove shit, Kenny!" he said with great confidence.

"I can get transcribes of your text conversations with Kyle," Kenny said. Cartman laughed again.

"Kenny, Kenny, Kenny," he sang. "Don't you think I'd know better than to leave that kind of evidence behind? Come on!"

Kenny's stomach dropped in disappointment. It had been a long shot, he knew. Cartman was well experienced in the world of petty crime and would most definitely phrase his requests to Kyle in a way that wouldn't incriminate him at a later time if someone else were to look at the messages. Surely, it would come off as if Kyle was just a friend doing him a favor.

Kenny wasn't done though. There was one final trick up his sleeve, one he had hoped he wouldn't have to use.

"Alright. Then let's strike a bargain," Kenny said.

Cartman arched an eyebrow. "What makes you think you're in any position to bargain with me?" he asked. "What can you possibly get me that I want?"

Kenny looked him dead in the eye. "I can get you Laura Pritchard," he said.

Cartman's eyes grew as big as the Oreo in his hand, and Kenny knew he had him.

"How the fuck do you know about her?" the fat boy asked in disbelief. "And how would someone like you be able to get her here?"

Kenny smirked. "She's a frequent guest at the restaurant I work at," he said.

Laura T. Pritchard was _the_ defense attorney. Nationally famous for her skills, the woman never lost a case. She was a fashionable brunette in her mid-thirties who, despite her reputation and prestige, had decided to make Fort Collins her home between traveling for cases. She was a regular at the restaurant, and she had taking such a liking to Kenny, she would often refuse service from any other waiter if he was working when she visited. After a couple glasses of wine, she had a tendency to flirt quite heavily with Kenny who made an obscene amount of tips just by flirting back. He had made a small fortune off this woman. When she had once asked him where he was from, and he had told her of South Park, Laura had recognized the name of the town. She told him about an Eric Cartman who kept contacting her about taking her case. Kenny hadn't thought much of it at the time, but now he was glad he remembered.

"And why would someone like her listen to someone like you?" Cartman demanded.

Kenny grinned. "Because I'm adorable, and she likes me," he said. "And with the tip she's leaving me, I'm thinking she's not just liking me for my excellent service."

Cartman frowned as he weighed Kenny's words and how trustworthy they would be. Kenny kept his face a carefully constructed mask of confidence. Yes, he was quite sure Laura would agree to take Cartman's case if Kenny were to agree to see her outside of the restaurant - as she had so clearly hinted she would be interested in. He had considered it already, only rejecting the idea because he was a little wary that once she lost interest he would lose his enormous tips. He could live without the money for Kyle, though.

"So," Cartman said, reaching a conclusion. "I leave all your little buddies alone. And you get Pritchard to take my case?"

"Yes," Kenny answered with a nod, knowing full well that not even Laura T. Pritchard could keep Eric Cartman from going to jail. At best she could reduce the sentence. She had told him so herself. That was her main reason for rejecting the case. She liked winning and Cartman's wasn't a winning case. Not that he needed to know that, Kenny thought.

"Deal," the fat boy said and stuck his greasy hand out. Kenny shook it and kept his face free from the celebratory grin until he was several streets away from the Cartman house. Sure, he'd probably lose his best customer, but Cartman was going to jail, and Kyle could get out from under his thumb. Today was a good day.


	13. Knowing

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

In all honesty, Craig had expected it to be a lot harder to find a way to spend his free time.

He had been certain he had no interests outside of Tweek or his guinea pigs, so naturally it seemed unlikely that he would find a potential hobby right away. But he had.

It might have been fate, or it might have been him eavesdropping on some guys from one of his classes. Either way his decision had been made. Craig had joined the on-campus astronomy club.

He couldn't believe he had actually forgotten how much the night sky had fascinated him as a child. When he was younger, he had spent so many hours gazing up at the stars, imagining himself amongst them and dreaming of far away galaxies and extraterrestrial life.

The club had welcomed him eagerly. They invited him to join them for a stargazing session that very same night. They didn't bring telescopes or textbooks about planets and stars. This night wasn't about that, according to Max, who apart from being Craig's neighbor was also a member of the club. This was a night for relaxing and embracing the beauty of night sky above Colorado State University.

They met up in front of the library, and together they found a place to lie down on blankets and sleeping bags, admiring the sky on this particularly cloud-free night. It was freezing outside, but the sleeping bag underneath Craig's back kept most of the cold from reaching his skin.

"This is so relaxing, isn't it?" Max asked him. His neighbor had parked his blanket next to Craig's, leaving a very polite distance between them for which Craig was immensely appreciative.

"Yeah," Craig agreed. It really was relaxing. The lights of the stars shone in patterns across the black sky in formations Craig wished he knew the names of. He would learn, he promised himself. He would learn them all.

Until then he would make names up. That one could be 'the Broccoli' and next to it 'the Towelie'. Other stars grouped together to look like his longhaired guinea pig when she stretched her back after a particularly long nap. The stars to the left of those looked like his boyfriend's hair in the wind. Both of the last two patterns he named Tweek. He really ought to learn the right names, he concluded when the association made him sad.

"It's a shame about the light pollution, though. You can't really see that many stars from here," Max continued. "You should come with us when we go camping outside the city. Then you can see so much more."

Craig hummed in agreement. He doubted if he would ever agree to a camping trip in the fall when it was so cold out, but right now the idea was actually a little tempting. He hadn't even noticed before, but there were far fewer stars in the Fort Collins' sky than in the one he knew from his childhood. South Park was such a small town that the sky was radiant with stars. It was beautiful.

Crag remembered a time when he was fourteen. He and Tweek had snuck out to see a meteor shower. It had been his idea. He wanted to see it so badly, but his parents hadn't wanted him to since it was a school night. Defiant as a teen can be, he had decided to see it anyways, and Tweek agreed to go with him. He actually hadn't even needed that much convincing.

 _They had met up in the woods right behind the church. Tweek was already there when he arrived. The blond was carrying a giant blue picnic blanket he had found in his parents' basement. It was so heavy Tweek's legs were trembling under the weight of carrying it, and Craig had wondered how he had even managed to get it this far on his own. He had helped Tweek carry it the rest of the way into a familiar clearing in the forest. A few years later, that very same clearing would be one of their preferred places for making out._

 _Despite many people in town having mentioned a desire to witness the meteor shower, no one else was in the clearing with them. They had been all alone together, curled up under the blanket and waiting for the shower._

 _Tweek had brought a thermos of coffee to keep them awake, and though Craig had initially despised the bitter taste, he had been grateful for the opportunity to stay up all night. He remembered wondering if his breath smelled like Tweek's usually did. He hadn't minded._

 _They had waited maybe an hour. It had been so cold, Craig hadn't even thought it weird when Tweek had leaned into his body under the blanket, mooching off his body heat and resting his head on Craig's shoulder while they talked about the homework they were supposed to have completed that day. Even though they had spent many nights sleeping over at each other's houses, they had never been snuggled up this close to each other before. Craig didn't think it strange at the time. It was freezing after all. So he had just gone with it and put an arm around Tweek's shoulder to make the position less awkward for the both of them._

 _When the meteors began darting across the sky, Craig had watched them in fascination, feeling grateful just for being there. He remembered looking down at Tweek, who was still considerably shorter than him back then, and being confused that his pretend-boyfriend was looking at him rather than the sky._

" _Dude, stop looking at me. You're missing the whole thing," he had said jokingly, to which Tweek had just smiled and said, "I know. You just look so happy."_

Craig smiled to the stars above him. In retrospect, it seemed obvious Tweek had already been in love with him at the time. Tweek once told him his romantic feelings for Craig had started around his thirteenth birthday. Craig had always found it hard to pinpoint the exact moment he had fallen for Tweek, but now he wondered if something might have been brewing in him already that night.

He remembered looking down at Tweek every other minute to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep on him. He also remembered that this was the first time he had truly noticed how Tweek didn't look like a little kid anymore. His mind had briefly noted that Tweek was getting more attractive the older they got – they way his face had lost some of the baby fat and his teeth had been straightened, it was a good look.

Craig found it strange to think that the sky above him now was the same as the one he had been watching cuddled up under that blanket with Tweek. Somehow it felt different, but maybe it was just that he himself had changed so much since then. Maybe it was being in a different city. He focused on the Tweek-hair constellation and saw his boyfriend's expressive eyes among them. It didn't make him sad the way it did when he looked at photos of them on his phone. This was far more soothing, and he found himself content to take in the rest of the night sky in silent wonder Max nudged him back to the dorm hours later.

When Craig got back to his dorm room, it was so late it was nearly morning. Consequently, he was very surprised to find the lights still on. Once he pushed the door fully open, he found Stan sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. The boy glanced up at the sound of him entering. He looked awful.

Craig nodded politely in his direction. Stan opened his mouth, but then appeared to change his mind and shut it without a word. Craig was about to follow his usual pattern of ignoring Stan's distress with his standard excuse of 'this doesn't concern me', but instead he decided against it. Maybe it was that he was hurting himself, or maybe he had just been living with Stan long enough to actually care. Either way, it felt wrong to ignore him in this state, so he sat down on the office chair across from Stan's bed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Stan looked baffled. Craig wondered if he had ever said those words to him before in all the years they had known each other. Judging from the look on Stan's face, probably not.

"Yeah, I'm…" Stan began. Then he sighed and shook his head. "Actually no. I don't think I am."

A tiny voice in the back of Craig's brain reminded him it wasn't too late to avoid getting involved in problems that didn't concern him. He told the voice to fuck off.

"What's wrong?" Craig asked, even though he was fairly certain he could guess.

Stan exhaled loudly and ran a hand through his already insanely messy hair. "It's just… Kyle." He shook his head again. "It's … well, it's complicated."

Craig nodded. "Yeah, I know."

Stan eyed him cautiously. "How much do you know?" he asked.

"Dude, we live together," Craig said. "I see you. It's obvious. And also, I spoke to Kenny."

Stan paled. "Figures, he knows," he mumbled. "Can't believe he told you."

"So what's the matter exactly?" Craig asked. "Did something happen between you two?"

"Yeah," Stan answered. He furrowed his brows while he appeared to actively search for the right words. "You know when you think you've got something totally figured out, and then something happens that just sorta … shatters that belief to pieces?"

Craig shook his head. "Not really."

"Oh. Well, I do. I was so certain I had this figured out, and then suddenly I hadn't. Things changed. And for a long time that was really scary. But then I felt like, maybe that was okay," Stan tried to explain. He leaned back against the pile of pillows behind him. "But just when I think I'm okay, things change again, and it just makes it all so fucking confusing."

"What exactly changed for you?" Craig questioned, mostly to get Stan to actually say it out loud.

"I thought- I was so sure that me and Wendy were going to be this permanent thing," he said. "Like, I know we broke up a few times, but I always figured we were sort of destined to be together."

"But then you stopped believing that?" Craig prompted. A part of Craig wanted to think Stan was stupid for assuming his childhood girlfriend would be with him forever, but he really wasn't in any position to judge that conviction.

"Yeah, I did. When she dumped me, she made it very clear that … she had this idea of her future. And I wasn't a part of it," Stan mumbled, making the exact same sad face he had those first days of college. "And then I got here and …" He trailed off, staring into his hands for a moment. "I don't even know when this whole _thing_ with Kyle started. Or _why_. But it did. It's here and it's real."

He glanced up at Craig, meeting his eyes with something akin to a desperate need for answers and understanding. "How did _you_ know?" he asked.

"How did I know what?" Craig asked patiently.

"How did you know for sure that you wanted to be with Tweek?" Stan clarified. "Did you just always prefer guys, or did it just sort of happen with him?"

"I'm not really sure," Craig answered. "I think it just sort of happened. That I really liked having him as my best friend, and then eventually I also wanted him to be more than that."

Stan looked confused. "I thought Clyde was your best friend growing up."

Craig shrugged. "If you rule out Tweek just because we were officially dating, then sure, Clyde was next in line," he said. "But Tweek and I weren't really dating-dating until we were like sixteen."

Stan blinked, and Craig realized he probably hadn't ever told him - or anybody, if he really thought about it. The few people who knew figured it out on their own. Kyle was one of those people, and Craig had always assumed he would have shared that piece of information with Stan.

"You were just _pretend_ -dating? _Why?_ " Stan asked.

Craig sighed. "It's a long story - have Kenny fill you in - point is, I didn't find Tweek attractive always. It came later."

"Oh." Stan scratched the back of his head. "But did you find other guys attractive before then?"

"No," Craig answered honestly. "Actually I wasn't attracted to anyone before then."

Stan didn't look like that answer made much sense to him, but he didn't challenge it. He'd had a girlfriend on and off before most guys in their class had even begun to stop considering girls boring or gross. Craig felt a little bad he couldn't provide Stan with the exact answers he wanted, but their experiences with dating and attraction were clearly very different. Craig figured he could go a different route.

"Why is it so bad if you're attracted to Kyle?" he asked, and tried not to pay attention to the fact that it was the exact same voice he used when talking Tweek out of a panic. Stan fidgeted with his pillowcase a bit.

"I-it's not that it's bad," he stammered, clearly made uncomfortable by the bluntness of the question. "I just never considered it possible… until it happened."

It was obvious Stan wasn't used to talking about his attraction to his best friend outside of his own head, but Craig thought it was important and probably beneficial for his overall sanity that he did. Eventually, Stan let go of the pillowcase and looked Craig straight in the eyes.

"Me and Kyle. Was it really that obvious?"

Craig snorted. "Yes."

"Huh." Stan nodded, a faint blush staining his cheeks. Craig found it mildly laughable that his roommate didn't even know how obvious it was to everyone else. The boys were literally incapable of being in the same room without being within touching distance of each other. He wondered if Kenny had thought the same thing back when he had agreed to help Tweek stop the pretend-dating.

"He likes you too, you know," Craig said.

"Yeah. I know," Stan said with a small smile that quickly turned into a frown. "I found out."

Craig blinked. "Did he actually tell you?" he asked incredulously. Judging from his last conversation with Kyle, it seemed unlikely.

"Not really," Stan said, confirming Craig's suspicion.

"Then what happened?" Craig wanted to know.

Stan fixed his gaze on the cellphone on his nightstand. "I kissed him," he admitted.

"What? When?" Craig asked and sat back in his chair. Was that the reason he hadn't seen Kyle around in a while?

Stan bit his lip in the same manner Tweek did when a topic made him uncomfortable. "A week ago," he answered in a small voice. The way he looked at the floor by the head of his bed made Craig wonder if it had happened right there, in their room.

"And?"

Stan still avoided eye contact when he answered. "Well, he kissed me back, and he seemed really happy and relieved about it."

Craig was confused. "That's good, right?" he asked. Stan's tense shoulders told a different story, though.

"Wendy called me, right then, and even though Kyle told me not to answer the phone, I did," Stan said. The regret was obvious. "She wanted to meet up, said she wants to get back together. And I agreed to have lunch with her."

Craig would have rolled his eyes if Stan didn't look so pitiful. "I'm betting Kyle didn't like that," he said instead.

Stan let out a humorless laugh and shook his head. "He did not. He left and didn't want to talk to me for days," he said. Finally he looked back at Craig. "That's why I wanted to go to that party I dragged you to. He'd said he'd be there so I figured he can't ignore me if I'm right in front of him."

"But then that didn't end well either," Craig commented, remembering that night well, even if his memory of it primarily focused on his own disastrous reconciliation attempt.

"No, it didn't. When I got there I didn't even know what I wanted to say to him," Stan muttered. "You saw."

"I did."

"It's just stupid," Stan continued. "You know, right before Wendy came to visit I was really close to telling Kyle that I wanted us to be more than friends. I've been so happy, spending all that time with him here. Even if it's been really confusing for me, it's just been so perfect."

"How did Wendy coming here change that?" Craig asked. Stan looked briefly taken aback by the question, as if it really ought to be obvious. Then he must have realized whom he was talking to. He groaned.

"I don't know," he said. "I guess I've been kinda torn between wanting everything to go back to normal because it's familiar and I know how to deal with it - and then actually wanting something else more. A lot more."

"Unfamiliar territory?" Craig guessed.

"Exactly," Stan said and nodded.

"I get it. That's scary and all. But it won't be unfamiliar forever," Craig said, remembering just how weird things had been back when he and Tweek had started dating - and then again when they began _actually_ dating. "With time, it's just … normal."

Stan eyed him thoughtfully for a moment, mulling it over in his head. "Guess you're right," he finally muttered. His voice sounded almost a little relieved.

"Obviously, I'm right," Craig said, offering a confident smile, though it didn't sit quite right on his face. "Answer me honestly. If it didn't matter whether or not it was _normal_ or what you thought it was gonna be, who would you want to be with: Kyle or Wendy?"

"Kyle," Stan answered promptly. His eyes widened significantly, as if the answer surprised him.

Craig smiled, more genuinely this time. "There you go."

Stan smiled back briefly before his face turned serious. "I need to fix this before I lose him completely, don't I?" he asked.

Craig lost the smile too. "You really, really do," he said. "Trust me."

Stan nodded and turned his head to stare at the floor again. In the accompanying silence, Craig could hear a few people scuttle past their room, and he briefly wondered just how late it was, and why he and Stan weren't the only people awake. Sometimes it felt like everyone on campus was nocturnal. Or maybe it was officially morning now, and he just hadn't noticed.

"Thank you," Stan said, finally breaking the silence just as Craig got used to it. "That really helped actually."

Craig offered his roommate another smile. "Don't mention it. It'd be about fucking time you two got together."

Stan burst out laughing and Craig joined him, possibly out of exhaustion. When the laughter eventually died down, Craig felt like an entirely different person was sitting in front of him. Stan seemed lighter, and less like the hollow shell of misery that had greeted Craig when he had returned to their room. Craig felt a little shitty for not taking an active interest in his roommate before. He did have a tendency to avoid all other peoples' problems, with Tweek being the only exception. Maybe he could at least _try_ to be less of an indifferent asshole in the future.

"Is it really that much different to be dating a guy, though?" Stan asked.

Craig snorted. "I have literally nothing else to compare to," he pointed out.

"Oh, right." Stan offered an apologetic smile, though Craig didn't really see the need. It didn't matter to him that he'd only ever been with Tweek. Tweek was all he wanted.

"But I'm basically dating my best friend. So that's pretty great," he explained. His stomach dropped as he remembered their last fight. "At least I hope I still am."

Stan patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah. Kenny told me what happened," he said, looking sympathetic. "I'm really sorry, man."

"Thanks."

His roommate shook his head. Somehow all the hair he had messed up earlier fell obediently into place. Craig was a little jealous. "Honestly, there's no way in hell you would ever cheat on him," Stan said. "I told him that."

Craig blinked. "You _what_?"

"I stopped by his job to tell him," Stan said calmly.

"Why?" Craig demanded.

Stan shrugged awkwardly. "I'm thinking maybe he needs to hear it from someone else. It's really obvious how much you love him."

This time it was Craig's turn to avoid eye contact. "Thank you," he said, ignoring the way his face heated up. Now he felt like even more of a dick for not caring about Stan's problems earlier. He knew Stan was a good guy. It just never occurred to him that Stan would be a good guy to him. Unprovoked even.

Desperately needing to break up whatever weird little moment they were having, he looked back at Stan with a teasing smirk. "By the way, are you consciously seeking out people who are way smarter than you, or is that just sort of a coincidence?" he joked.

Stan burst out laughing again. "Fuck you."


	14. Winning Argument

_**Little heads up!**_

 _The following chapter is entirely from Stan's point of view and thus does not contain the usual Creek. Feel free to skip if you'd rather avoid the Stan x Kyle part of the story. Next chapter is back on Creek-track, promise!_

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It had taken Stan almost an hour and a half to pick out the cafe. He had scrolled through countless websites and recommendation sites to find one that would fit his criteria. Maybe it was ridiculous, considering why he needed one in the first place, but somehow this felt important to him. It had to be right. Because he had to do this right. If not, he might never forgive himself.

The cafe was carefully selected for its large size, very public location and vast amount of daily guests. They would not be alone here.

He arrived before she did. Long before. He had told Wendy about the place that morning in a text. Back when he had originally agreed to meet up with her, he hadn't actually considered how that meeting would go.

She had caught him so off-guard, calling him while he was still halfway on top of the person who was supposed to be his best friend. His initial plan about seeing Wendy had been that he 'would figure it out when he got there'. He felt moronic for thinking that now. If he were truly the kind of person who could just figure everything out on the spot, how the hell did he mess up with Kyle so much?

He took a long and deep breath to calm down and remind himself why this was necessary. No matter how uncomfortable this would be for him, he was doing it for the right reasons. He kept glancing at the front door every time it opened. Every time it wasn't her, his stomach rolled with a confused mix of disappointment and relief.

She walked through the door exactly the moment the clock on his phone went from 1:59 to 2:00, perfectly on time, as always. She had dressed up, he noticed with unhelpful pity. Typically, she refrained from wearing anything that wasn't one hundred percent comfortable. She always said she valued her own wellbeing over whether people would judge her for her appearance. This usually meant that she always wore some form of jean-sweater-sneaker combination. Today she was in a fitted dress and heels too high to be any sort of comfortable.

He waved at her when she stopped in her tracks to scan the room for him. Her face lit up in a bright smile, and she carefully maneuvered her way through the crowded room to get to the table he sat by.

"Hi Stan," she greeted him cheerfully as he got up to give her a hug. Part of him was just about to kiss her on the cheek as usual, but he wasn't entirely sure that he ought to.

"Did you wait long?" she asked.

"No, no. Not at all," he lied politely and gestured for her to take the seat across from him.

She had gotten bangs since the last time he saw her. It looked great on her, accentuated her pale green eyes perfectly. In a way it was weirdly therapeutic to sit across from her and be able to objectively notice her good looks without actually being all that drawn to her anymore. It solidified his decision.

The second she sat down, the waitress that had been patiently waiting for him to have company hurried over to bring them their menus. Stan quickly told the waitress that he only wanted a coffee. He wasn't sure if he should prevent Wendy from ordering any food as well or if he should just let her pick whatever she wanted. He worried that this would turn out so awkward neither one of them would be able to finish anything anyway. He didn't have to say anything to Wendy, though. She tensed up immediately when he didn't order food. With a twitchy smile she asked the waitress only for a cup of tea. The waitress left with a disappointed frown.

"I gather you have something specific to talk to me about?" Wendy said, all cheerfulness gone from her voice. "That's why you agreed to come see me, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he answered with a nod.

She pressed her lips like she always did when she was putting on a brave face. At least she knew what was coming. He still felt bad for doing this to her - even if she had done it to him at least seven times. He took a deep breath to say it, but she beat him to it.

"We can't get back together, is that it?" she guessed correctly. He nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said. She tapped a manicured nail on the table. He hadn't noticed it before, but that too was not something she bothered doing on a daily basis. Why was she trying so hard? She never had the other times.

"Why?" she wanted to know. He had asked a similar question so many times before. It was unnervingly strange to have the tables be turned like that.

"Because we're not supposed to be together," he said honestly, mentally holding on to the reason he needed to do this. "It would be easier, but I just don't feel that way about you anymore."

She closed her eyes and stopped the tapping of her nail against the tabletop.

"I'm really sorry," he apologized again. "Look, I still care about you. A lot. And I still want you to be a part of my life. Just not like that. I was kinda hoping … we could still be friends, maybe?"

He cringed inwardly at just how cliché that sounded. She was far more original when she did it. She exhaled slowly and opened her eyed. The waitress appeared with their drinks then, but neither of them acknowledged her presence. She made a face upon noticing the tense atmosphere and quickly scurried away.

Wendy cupped her hands around her mug and stared into the hot tea water for some time. Stan wanted to say something, but when he finally decided to do so, she met his eyes with a tired smile.

"It's probably for the best. If I'm being completely honest here…" she began. "It was pretty selfish. I just really wanted everything to go back to normal. Not just with you and me. Everything. I just figured, you and me - that was at least something I could control. It was _possible_."

Stan felt a brief sense of déjà vu, remembering his conversation with Craig the night before. He had wanted that too, in a sense. There was something so tempting about the prospect of having at least some part of his life return to a way he properly knew how to deal with. It was like the first few times he had to do his laundry or pay bills, and all he wanted was to go back home to his parents in South Park - where he never had to worry about stupid adult things like that.

"Why do you think you need things to be the way they were?" he asked her.

He remembered the way Craig had questioned him about his problems. It helped to say things out loud. Somehow things were more overwhelming when they were trapped in your head. Like they were actively pressing on your brain.

Wendy sniffled. "Things just haven't been going the way I thought they would at all," she said, voice wavering. "I thought I could just waltz into Harvard, and I'd easily be the best. Just like in South Park. But the others- they were all the best in their hometowns too. I'm barely even mediocre. It's really hard. I get behind all the time. I even almost failed one of my classes!"

Her eyes were watery, and Stan worried she was going to start crying. She composed herself, though, taking a long sip of her probably scolding tea. When she put the mug back down, the water was no more than half a tear trapped in the corners of her eyes. She wiped them away carelessly and smeared some of her mascara in the process. He reached out to put his hand on her arm. She stilled.

"I guess, I'm not really here for the right reasons, huh?" she muttered.

"No. But I get it," he assured her. "You needed something familiar."

She sniffled again and placed her hand on top of his. "Yeah. But you're right. We shouldn't. Not like this."

He offered her a smile and was pleased to see her return it, even if there was still a black mascara smear on her face to betray the tears she almost spilled.

"So," he said. "Do you think we could still be friends?"

"I'd hope so," she smiled.

He gave her arm a final squeeze before retracting it to his side of the table. They finished their drinks in companionable silence. When the annoyed waitress returned to see if they wanted their check, they exchanged glances. No, they shouldn't end it like this.

They both ordered actual food and ate lunch together like they had originally discussed while exchanging funny analogies from their first few months of college. It was as if they both knew that despite agreeing to stay friends, they would need some time before they would actually be ready to see each other casually again. This might be their last meeting in a long time so they both made an effort to keep the tone happy and friendly. They even ordered dessert to make it last longer.

Once they were finally ready to part ways, they paid their bill - Wendy insisting on paying for her own share of the meal - and walked out of the cafe together.

"So," Wendy said once they were outside. "I should probably be heading to South Park for my stuff soon if I'm gonna be ready to go back to Harvard tomorrow."

"Yeah. That's probably a good idea," he agreed with a lump in his throat.

She put her arms around him to hug him goodbye. He noted the perfume she was wearing and gave her another squeeze.

"Have a safe trip back," he muttered as he let her go. She nodded and smiled before turning to cross the street. Just before taking that first step onto the street, she turned to him one final time.

"Give Kyle my best, will you?" she asked with a knowing smile. He blinked. Craig must have been right about how obvious it was. He smiled back at Wendy and waved.

"I will."

O – O – o – O – O - o

Kenny was in on it. He had agreed to Stan's request straightaway, which was a relief to Stan since he wasn't sure if his plan would even be possible without the help of a mutual friend. Kyle had been avoiding any form of contact with Stan so he desperately needed someone else to convince him to answer his phone when he called. He needed the help of someone Kyle was actually still talking to.

He had been relieved to learn that Kenny had been successful in convincing Kyle to not only call Stan back, but also agree to meet with him. They were going to see a movie, legally this time. Normally they downloaded to save money. This time Stan offered to pay, joking that this way for once the quality wouldn't be so terrible they could barely see the people on the screen. Kyle had been hesitant, but eventually he had caved and agreed to meet him in front of the theater.

Stan was early again. Maybe a part of him was scared Kyle wouldn't actually show up. It was also possible he was just too jittery after his lunch with Wendy. For the first time in ages, his mind was irrevocably made up. For once, everything was so simple and obvious to him. Sadly, that only made him more impatient to get on with it.

Kyle arrived a little early too, and Stan's breath caught when he saw him. Kyle hadn't cared much about his looks when they were kids, but sometime during their teens he had discovered the miracle of Internet style guides and tutorials. Now he was always dressed immaculately preppy and had his curly hair tamed so perfectly that he had ditched his old hat completely.

He offered Kyle a cheerful smile to ease some of the weird and awkward tension between them. It was genuinely good to see Kyle so he didn't have to force the smile. It had really bothered him that he hadn't been able to spend some quality time with his old friend. They were super best friends for a reason. He couldn't think of a single person in the whole world whose company he enjoyed more than Kyle's.

Kyle eased a bit and smiled back, albeit a bit more hesitantly. Stan wanted to hug him, but they weren't really hugging-friends. Maybe they could be. He thought back to the way Craig and Tweek would greet each other in the halls of their high school, always clinging to each other like they had been apart for a war and not third period. He wanted that.

"So," Kyle began, breaking the uncharacteristic silence between them. "What's this movie we just have to see?"

Stan grinned. "It's the film adaptation of that book we were forced to share back at your aunt's house when her TV broke. You know the one with the-"

"- blind detective? Yeah, I remember. Decent read, but not great." He paused. "This movie's gonna suck, isn't it?"

Stan smirked. "Wait and see."

Kyle groaned and looked like he was just about to give Stan another lecture on why semi-good books always became the absolute worst movies. To his credit, he didn't. When they entered, Stan bought their tickets and offered to buy them both drinks and popcorn as well. Kyle adamantly refused. Under no circumstances would his pride allow Stan to pay for everything. Stan held back the laugh that threatened to escape him at that. No matter what weird things transpired in their lives, at the core Kyle always remained the same.

They carelessly chatted about nothing and everything from the lobby to their seats and for the first time in weeks, it felt like they had somehow restored their original and easy dynamic. That changed the second the lights were turned off.

Seated so closely together in the dark between previews and trailers, they were absurdly conscious of each other all of a sudden. Stan felt like he could not only hear but also _feel_ every breath Kyle took. He was suddenly far too aware of where he put his feet and his hands. Was he sitting too close? Too far away? Was this actually weird or was it just him? He bit back his discomfort and tried to relax when the movie was finally about to begin.

He hoped to God that his online research wouldn't fail him this time. This movie was supposed to be amazing. He needed it to be amazing. Kyle shifted in his seat every so often, never seeming entirely comfortable, but the second the plot of the movie took off, he went still. From start to finish, Kyle was completely captivated. Stan was too. And above all, relieved.

When the movie ended, they remained in their seats. Kyle seemed genuinely surprised.

"Wow," he breathed. "That was actually…"

"Awesome?" Stan offered, knowing full well that it was. He had chosen this movie for a reason.

"Yeah, it's awesome," Kyle agreed.

"And a hundred times better than the book?" Stan said with a confident grin. He had known it would be. Or so he had been informed at least. Though the movie itself hadn't had much hype surrounding its release, all reviewers agreed: this movie was better than the book.

"I guess it-" Kyle's eyes widened in realization. Stan was entirely unable to keep the smirk off his face.

"Yeah. Exactly," Stan said victoriously. "I win. This movie proves my point that the book is not always better than the movie."

Kyle gaped at him in disbelief. Stan honestly couldn't think of a single time he had caught his best friend without a counter argument before. He also didn't think he could remember a time where Kyle hadn't had a single word of retort to offer. Especially not during their many previous books vs. movie-debates. Kyle's face shifted from disbelief to suspicion.

"You knew," he accused. "That's why we absolutely had to see this movie?"

Stan grinned again and silently told the butterflies in his stomach to calm the fuck down.

"Indeed, it is. I'm sorry. I know how much you love being right." He swallowed. "But I had to prove you wrong at least once before I possibly fucked up our friendship forever."

Before Kyle could express his confusion about the remark, Stan leaned across his seat and planted his lips against his best friend's semi-gaping mouth.

It was an awkward angle, and it would have probably helped if Kyle hadn't been open-mouthed and mid-question, but the butterflies in his stomach exploded in a frenzy all the same. Deciding to be brave he pulled away just an inch so he could assess the reaction in those jade eyes and know whether he was in trouble or not.

He wasn't. Kyle blinked the confusion away and immediately grabbed Stan by the neck to pull him back down to let their lips meet again. Relieved at the reaction, Stan kissed him back eagerly and snuck an arm around him to pull him as close as was possible in their seats.

Kyle kissed like he debated, heated and with great passion. And just like when they were debating, Stan was happy to surrender and let his shorter friend completely dominate the situation.

When they finally pulled apart for air, Kyle stared into his eyes passionately. "Well, I hope you enjoyed that," Kyle said, and Stan realized he wasn't referring to the kissing.

"That is the absolute last time I'll let you prove me wrong."

Stan laughed and leaned his forehead against perfectly styled red curls. "I can live with that."


	15. Improving

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Tweek didn't feel like it, but he really was doing better. The entire situation with Craig was still a mess he didn't know how to properly deal with, but almost every other aspect of his life was falling neatly into place. Preparing for the hastily approaching finals had taken over most of his waking hours, but he actually felt comfortable enough financially to turn down extra shifts at the cafe. Sure, a few of his work-ethically challenged co-workers had been disappointed to learn that he no longer accepted any more time at the cafe than already agreed to, but most of them understood and even supported his decision. Vicky was especially happy to learn about this decision, though she'd often say she missed him at work.

With all the extra time, he was suddenly able to go to classes, attend study groups and actually read everything on the curriculum. His midterms had been a disaster, but there might still be a decent chance for him to pass this semester's classes, which took a lot of pressure and anxiety off his shoulders.

Kenny often complemented Tweek on his newfound handle on life. ' _Way to adult!'_ he would exclaim every time he saw Tweek eating a homemade meal or sitting down to study. Tweek had to agree with him. He thought he was finally doing pretty well on his own too.

He still didn't sleep. No amount of catching up on school or enjoying an evening in with his roommate seemed able to stop his mind from wandering to Craig whenever he closed his eyes. He honestly wasn't sure how he was supposed to handle the situation. The initial anger had worn off, but his head was still a mess of conflicting opinions and emotions.

No matter how reasonable it seemed that this could all just be Cartman's doing, there was still that insisting anxious voice in the back of his head. Every night it whispered how this could only be real, how it had really only been a matter of time before someone better had come along and stolen Craig away from him.

Stan had come by the cafe to see him. While Kenny had been a good sport about evading the subject of Craig, Stan was having none of that. He had walked in and demanded to talk to Tweek about how Craig would never betray him like that. He hoped Stan was right. In fact, he desperately needed him to be.

Tweek wished he were able to sleep. It might make it easier to actually figure this out. Today was yet another day of exhaustion for him, and it seemed impossible to form a coherent thought, let alone evaluate a difficult situation. As such, he barely participated in the conversation between Kenny and Kyle, who had stopped by to visit.

"You alright there, Tweek. You seem a little distant," Kyle inquired from his place at the end of the couch.

If anyone's mood seemed to have improved over the last couple of days, it was Kyle's. The last time he had stopped by, he had looked almost as worn as Tweek and spoken every word through a clenched jaw and a frown. Today was different. Kyle couldn't stop smiling today, and from the knowing look on Kenny's face, Tweek figured something good must have happened to him. Eyeing the very obvious hickey on Kyle's neck and the way he kept answering texts with an enormous smile, Tweek was pretty sure he could guess what.

"I'm okay," he muttered. "Just tired"

"Still not sleeping well?" Kenny asked with a concerned frown. Kenny was seated comfortably on the floor with one of the guinea pigs in his lap. He still hadn't managed to win over Guinea Pig-Tweek, but Gwen seemed very happy about spending time with him.

"Still not sleeping at all," Tweek answered and eyed the chubby little fur ball in his roommate's lap.

Kenny and Kyle exchanged a telling glance. Kyle put his phone down and sat up straighter so he could properly look Tweek in the eyes.

"You know you can't trust anything coming from Cartman, right?" the redhead asked.

Tweek felt the tremors in his hands return when his mind abruptly conjured up the picture their old classmate had sent him.

"I know," Tweek said. "But that doesn't mean the photo wasn't real. It obviously happened."

Kenny sat up straighter to, apparently seizing the presented opportunity to finally graze the topic.

"You know he told me what happened that day. In the store," he added. "I mean, I think it's something you should talk to _him_ about, but it's really not as bad as you're afraid it is."

"You talked to him?" Tweek asked with no small amount of confusion. Craig couldn't stand Kenny. He still held a grudge for what he did in high school and never voluntary stayed for a whole conversation with him. Of all the people in the world, why would he talk to Kenny about this?

"I did," Kenny confirmed. Kyle quirked a quizzical eyebrow, apparently as surprised to hear this as Tweek was. Kenny offered a comforting smile. "It's really just a big misunderstanding. He didn't want it."

Tweek swallowed down the lump in his throat. "He didn't?"

"Of course not," Kenny said. Gwen squealed in response under his hand like the loyal little pet she was. "You may not have noticed this, but that guy literally only has eyes for you. He only barely acknowledges the rest of us because life _forces_ him to."

Tweek opened his mouth to argue, but found himself unwilling to do so. "Really?" he asked instead. His insecurity battled with his need for their words to be true.

"Yes, really," Kyle agreed as if sensing that Tweek needed all the affirmations he could get.

His head was still spinning from all the nights of no sleep, and the pounding headache following his attempt to balance out the lack of sleep with massive amounts of coffee was making it increasingly hard to focus. He wanted to, though.

"He's fucking miserable without you," Kenny added with barely concealed pity on his face.

Tweek glanced down into his hands. They were still visibly shaking, and he wished Craig were there to make it go away. He was so good at that. He started a bit when he realized that despite missing Craig almost every waking minute, this was the fist time in weeks that he felt like he _needed_ him. Kenny often praised him for being able to handle things on his own now. Maybe there was some truth to it.

He took a deep breath. If what Kenny and Kyle said about Craig was right, then he didn't need to just sit there and _wish_ for Craig to have been there. If this was all just some big misunderstanding fueled by Cartman and Tweek's own anxiety then there was no reason why he should be this unhappy. He looked back up at Kyle and Kenny who were both watching him intensely as he reached the conclusion. This had to end. He had to get Craig back.

' _What if he doesn't want you back?'_ that frustrating voice in the back of his head whispered. He bit his lip as the tremor spread so profusely from his hands up his arms that he had to wrap his arms around himself to calm it down. The voice was right, wasn't it? It had been so long, and Tweek had utterly refused Craig any way of explaining the situation. He must be so pissed. What if he had messed up his chance for good simply by listening to his fears rather than his boyfriend?

"Does he hate me now?" he weakly asked no one in particular. Kenny still answered.

"Of course he doesn't," his roommate said assuredly. "Reach out to him. Make it right."

Kyle nodded in agreement, and Tweek bit back the overwhelmed sigh. This was good. He wanted this. He wanted to see Craig again, talk to him, hear him, feel him. But what if Craig was still mad at him for not listening? He wondered if he could just show up at the dorms, but discarded the idea instantly. Craig had classes, and a job. Tweek couldn't just expect him to be there. After all these years, it was strange for him not to know Craig's schedule.

Should he call him? But then, would he be able to handle it if Craig didn't answer the phone or hung up on him? It was so frustrating to not know the other's mood and it made it so much harder to pick a course of action. The lack of sleep wasn't helping either.

How would he go about it?

Kyle went up to get a bottle of water out of the fridge, and Gwen squealed loudly for cucumber at the sound of it. Tweek felt his whole face lit up. That was it!

O – O – o – O – O - o

Craig kept his most polite smile firmly in check while he handed the woman the last item on her shopping list.

"There you go, ma'am. These really are the best kind of tomatoes for a recipe like that," he said as if he hadn't just googled it in the break room. "Much better texture, I guarantee it."

The customer took them gratefully. "Oh, thank you! With a little luck this dinner party might not be a total disaster after all," she chuckled. "Thank you so much for your help with all the ingredients."

"You're welcome," he smiled. "You let me know how it goes."

He gave his best impression of a charming Kenny McCormick-grin and the middle-aged woman left for the register with a flattered smile on her face. Once she was out of sight, he let his smile go and relaxed his face. Warren had been right back during his first shift. It really did get easier with time.

"Craig!" Helen called from near the entrance to the back. "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure," he said and headed in her direction. She held one of the big flap doors open for him.

"Come on out back. I'd like to talk to you about something," she said.

He wondered if he was in trouble again, but couldn't for the life of him figure out for what. On further inspection of his boss's face, he might not actually have done something wrong. Her face didn't have that angry and disappointed look it usually wore when she called him in for a chat. She led him to her office and gestured for him to take the usual chair with the infuriatingly short legs.

"Well, Craig," she began after seating herself in her taller chair. "How do you think you've been doing lately?"

' _Feels like a trick question,'_ he thought with great concern. Maybe he actually had fucked up. He tried thinking back to the last time he had truly gotten himself in trouble, but honestly it had been quite a while since he pissed off a customer.

"Okay, I guess," he answered vaguely.

The corners of her mouth quirked upwards. "Well, I have to disagree with you there. I think you're doing marvelous!" she said.

He gaped at her. "Really?"

"Really." She nodded. "It's been really great to see you start taking your job here seriously. You've been handling the customers really well. I'm very happy about your progress."

His ears heated up at the praise, and he sunk further down the low chair. He never really cared what other people thought about what he did so the warm feeling in his stomach was entirely unexpected.

"In fact," Helen continued. "I'd like to know if you think you'd be up for getting more responsibilities around here."

"More responsibilities?" he repeated.

"Yes. Like handling inventory, training new employees and occasionally closing up the store," she elaborated. "This would mean changing up your schedule a little, though."

"My schedule?"

"Yes. As you know, these are things Warren's responsible for as well so it wouldn't make much sense for the two of you to be working the same shifts anymore," she continued. "I know you two have been working really close together, but this would be a great opportunity for you to earn a little more, and I guarantee you, it's looks much better on your future resume."

She winked at him and he smiled. It wasn't like his feelings about the job itself had changed over the last couple of weeks. He still hated it. But the prospect of earning more money and getting to do new chores around the store instead of just restocking and directing customers would be a very welcome change. He also couldn't deny that it was nice to feel appreciated for the work he was doing. With the added bonus of avoiding Warren, he didn't need much time to think the offer through.

"I'd love more responsibilities," he said with a grin. Helen smiled back at him and offered her hand for him to shake.

"Well, that's a deal then," she said when he shook her hand. "You'll be getting a new contract with the finer details as soon as I write one up, alright?"

"Sounds great," he nodded.

She made a gesture with both her hands to signal the end of their conversation, and he practically jumped to his feet, for once feeling excited about his job. She followed him out of the office just as the flap doors opened to reveal the next coworker coming in for a shift.

"Oh, hi there, Warren," Helen greeted the boy with a wave before ducking past him. "When you get out of your jacket, can you help Craig set up new the cereal aisle? We need to get that done soon - before he leaves for today!"

"Sure thing," Warren said with an easy smile. He sent Craig a telling look over her shoulder before heading to his locker to dispose of his jacket. Craig chose to ignore him and started moving the boxes of cereal out into the store.

He was about halfway through putting up a 'SALE!'-banner when Warren was out on the floor with him in his equally horrendous yellow shirt. Rather than taking a pile of boxes and starting at the other end of the aisle, his coworker instead chose to sit by Craig's feet and start stocking up the bottom of the section Craig was working on.

"So," Warren started conversationally. "Long time, no see. How've you been?"

"Fine," Craig muttered. He wasn't in the mood for this. Once Warren might have been a source of fun at work, but now he was the main cause of his problems.

"Finals scaring you yet?" Warren continued, running a hand casually through the ash-blond hair.

Craig bit back another curt answer. Maybe he ought to be more mature about this if Warren was trying to put the past behind them. This might be one of their last shifts together anyways.

"A bit. But I'll manage, I guess," he answered, keeping his voice light and irritation-free. "How about you?"

"I'm probably gonna fail, to be honest," Warren admitted with a frown. He quickly shook it off as a customer approached to ask for the whereabouts of the hand soaps.

When he returned from showing the old man where to find the soap - because pointing had not been sufficient - Warren leaned casually against the shelves instead of getting back down to continue putting cereal boxes on the shelf.

Craig glanced up to find the blond staring at him intensely. When their eyes met, Warren offered a smirk.

"How's the _boyfriend_?" he asked knowingly. Craig tensed up immediately.

"Fine," he answered through gritted teeth. "Why do you wanna know?"

Warren's smirk widened and Craig leaned away from him to put more physical distance between them.

"'Cause I have it on good authority that you two are as good as broken up," he said with a shrug and took a step closer to counter the inches Craig had put between them. Craig glared at him. Warren was a good-looking guy, honestly, but this kind of behavior was really ugly on him. He had already told him no. Even if he didn't have a boyfriend - which he hoped to God he still did - wasn't it super disrespectful of Warren not to accept that he just wasn't interested?

"What good authority?" he demanded and tried to ignore the chill following the mere thought that he and Tweek might not be a couple anymore.

Warren shrugged. "A little birdie that lives in the same dorm as you."

Craig glared at him again, not caring if a customer stumbled upon them and saw this break in good behavior.

"Well, your little birdie is wrong," he spat. "We're fine."

Warren opened his mouth to retort, but Craig cut him off at once, "And even if we weren't, I still wouldn't be interested. Let it the fuck go."

Warren's eyes widened slightly at the harsh tone. Another customer walked around the corner and they both composed themselves to smile and nod at her. The second she was gone their smiles fell. Even though Craig tried not to notice, he was fairly certain he saw the flash of hurt in Warren's eyes before the boy grabbed a box and began stocking cereal in the other end of the aisle. They completed their task in tense silence.

Craig might be able to feel bad for Warren, but he couldn't do it just yet. He was still angry with him for disregarding Craig's feelings for Tweek so blatantly. The only pang of regret he felt was when he realized he no longer had any friends at work. He made up his mind to be less of a dick to whomever he would be working with on his new schedule.

They finished setting up the aisle just in time for Craig's shift to be over. He left Warren on the floor without a word and headed straight for his locker. Out of habit he checked his phone for notifications while he pulled his jacket out of the locker.

He was shocked to see Tweek's name on his screen and was so hasty in his attempt to unlock his phone that he messed up the password several times before getting in.

The message consisted of four pictures of his guinea pigs chilling on a couch, happily munching on sliced cucumber. The smile spreading on his face at the sight of them was so wide it hurt his cheeks. He quickly downloaded each of them to his phone. When he got to the last photo, he realized the message wasn't all pictures. Below the last image of Gwen were the words that made his breath hitch.

' _I'm really sorry. Can we talk?'_


	16. Two Pillows

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Tweek ran the whole way to campus. Just as well. Without a single cloud in the sky, it was freezing cold, and the fast pace kept his body warm.

His heart had nearly leapt out of his chest when Craig finally answered his text message. Tweek had begun to fear the worst after the hours of silence following him sending it. The fear had apparently been unwarranted. Craig had simply been working and thus away from his phone, but he was willing to meet up now that his shift had ended.

Tweek had wanted to rush down to the supermarket to meet Craig the second he received the message. Sadly, the phone call had caught him right in the middle of cleaning the guinea pig cage, which was originally an effort made to distract himself from waiting for a reply. With the piggies in a temporary plastic bin and every item of the cage scattered across his living room floor, Tweek hadn't had the option of bolting out of the door, no matter how badly he wanted to. At least Craig might appreciate the clean cage.

They had agreed to meet on a particular lawn on campus. Tweek wasn't entirely sure why Craig wanted to meet outside, but he figured it might be for the same reason Tweek hadn't offered for them to meet at his apartment. Out here was no one's territory, and they were on equal ground in case one of them felt uncomfortable. He didn't like taking these precautions, but they had already fallen out twice. His mind reasoned it would be unrealistic to think that it couldn't happen a third time.

Craig was already there when Tweek arrived, but he didn't notice him coming. He was busy watching the night sky above them with a calm look of wonder. Tweek paused at the sight of it as he was instantly taken back to the time he had spent an entire night watching Craig marveling at the sky. He felt the ghost of Craig's arms around him like they had been during that meteor shower, and he resolutely took the last few steps across the lawn to meet him.

Once he resumed walking, Craig finally reacted to the sound of Tweek's shoes crushing the crispy fallen leaves on the grass.

A thousand emotions ghosted across Craig's features. Tweek was hard-pressed to pinpoint just one, but mostly Craig looked insecure, like he didn't know how to react to seeing him. It was such an unfamiliar expression on him that Tweek's stomach twisted with guilt for causing it. Eventually, Craig offered a weak smile in greeting.

"Hey," Tweek spoke, pausing just in front of Craig, leaving a few inches of distance just in case. Craig awkwardly shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Hey."

The sound of Craig's voice was such a relief to his ears. Tweek hadn't realized just how long it had been since he heard it last, but he felt like tearing up from that one small word alone.

For a while no one spoke. They just stared at each other in tentative silence. The only audible sound was the nearby laughter of three girls hurrying out of the cold and into a building close by. Tweek cleared his throat.

"D-did you wait here long?" he asked, inwardly cringing at the attempt at small talk. He really shouldn't be postponing this. Craig's left eyebrow twitched slightly at the stutter Tweek hadn't been able to retain before shaking his head.

"No, just a few minutes," he answered. While Craig's voice had always held a certain level of neutrality to it, this time it sounded cautiously forced to stay that way. Tweek knew he shouldn't delay it with chitchat any longer.

"I'm really sorry," he said, voice cracking. Craig took a step closer, making Tweek realize he really was tearing up this time.

The cold air was finally getting to him, and he wrapped his arms around himself before continuing,

"I'm sorry I didn't wanna listen to you. I wasn't being fair, and I should have listened to what you had to say."

Craig's eyebrows shot up and then furrowed as if he were relieved but still trying to make sense of what Tweek had said.

"Then why didn't you?" Craig finally asked cautiously. He seemed almost afraid of asking the question, and Tweek realized Craig was probably as scared of this turning into another fight as he was.

"Because … to me it didn't seem like a crazy assumption at all," Tweek said, feeling the lump form in the back of his throat while he voiced his greatest fear. He could tell from the widening of Craig's eyes that he had to elaborate.

"Not because it's something you'd do!" he said quickly. "But because … I guess, I always expected that it would happen at some point."

" _Why_?" Craig asked, looking hurt. Tweek bit his bottom lip anxiously.

"I don't know. I just always figured you'd get tired of me eventually," Tweek answered honestly, tightening his arms around himself. "That you'd meet someone better and realize that you didn't have to be with someone so … _me_."

Craig reached out to Tweek as if on instinct. Then he noticed what he was doing and retracted his hand midway. Tweek's stomach contracted painfully at the sight.

"I don't want _someone else_ ," Craig said, carefully enunciating the last two words to make his point clear.

Tweek nodded as if he understood, but the uncertainty was still present. Somehow, he couldn't truly believe that Craig's feelings towards him would always stay the same.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you back when you said that before," Tweek apologized. "And I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. You deserved to be listened to."

Craig nodded slowly and continued to shift awkwardly, like he couldn't quite figure out what to do with his body. He repeatedly leaned in as if about to close the distance between them, but he never did.

"I'll listen now, though," Tweek promised. Even if he had heard from Kenny already, he really owed it to Craig to let him explain his side of the story, finally.

Craig's eyebrows shot up hopefully. "You will?"

Tweek nodded fervently, and this time Craig actually took the step closer to him. They were close enough to touch, but still they didn't. It was painful and taunting, and Tweek was eager to put an end to it.

"It really was a misunderstanding," Craig started, eyes pleading. "I mean … there's a photo, so obviously it's not like Cartman made everything up. The photo is real."

Tweek did his best to keep a straight face, but he there was no denying that the notion of the picture not just being photoshopped was painful and sickening to him.

Craig continued, "But it was all Warren. _He_ kissed _me_. And I pushed him away immediately," Craig promised. "The picture doesn't show that, of course, but please believe me. I did!"

"I believe you," Tweek said and was slightly surprised to find that he meant it. He did believe him. From the desperation in Craig's voice to the way he still kept leaning in like the distance was physically hurting him; Tweek believed him.

"I thought Warren was your friend," he said.

"I thought so too," Craig muttered sadly, and Tweek felt a sudden twinge of pity for him. Their separation had been hard on him, but he'd had friends around him. He at least still had a friendly face to greet him at work. Craig must have been so lonely.

Tweek took his hand, and Craig entwined their fingers straightway. They both stared at their joint hands for a while, taking it in. How long had it been since he had last felt Craig's skin under his fingers? When Craig looked up and their eyes met, the pain of the distance struck Tweek too. He closed the gap between them, throwing his arms around Craig's shoulders. Hesitant arms wound around him, and he buried his face in Craig's neck to breathe in his scent. It was so familiar and comforting to him.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized again. "Forgive me?"

Craig's arms tightened around his waist and the boy nodded into his hair, accepting the apology.

Craig's arms travelled up and down his back soothingly, mapping him out like he wanted to make sure nothing had changed since their last embrace. Tweek hugged him tighter, practically melting their bodies together while he reveled in the feeling Craig's body heat. He couldn't feel the cold anymore.

Craig nuzzled his face into Tweek's hair, and Tweek turned his face to connect their lips. His breath hitched as he kissed Craig for the first time in forever. One of Craig's hands ascended from its place on the small of Tweek's back to cup his face. Tweek made a small noise of appreciation and simultaneously allowed Craig's tongue to pry his lips apart and meet his own.

He sighed contently as he let Craig reclaim his mouth. His heart was beating so wildly, it was nearly pounding its way out of his chest. Simultaneously, his head was spinning wildly with happy thoughts.

 _He still wants me, he still loves me_.

He tilted his head to allow Craig further access. Air wasn't all that necessary anyways. He could breathe later, he decided and tightened his arms around Craig. All he needed was to be close to him.

The moment was mildly ruined by the sound of Craig's stomach rumbling loudly. It would seem he hadn't had a chance to eat since his break at work many hours ago. Tweek pulled away from him slightly, both of them panting to catch their breath.

"If you're hungry we could go back to my place. I have food," Tweek offered, gazing into Craig's wide-blown eyes. "Also, I think I know a pair of piggies who wouldn't mind seeing you."

Craig grinned, wide and genuinely, and nodded in agreement. They untangled and left campus hand in hand, completely oblivious to the freezing wind.

O – O – o – O – O – o

A strange sense of excitement bubbled in Craig's chest at the sight of the gloomy apartment building. It was probably because that very structure housed the most precious fur balls in existence: his guinea pigs. It might also be because literally nothing could ruin burst his happy bubble now that he finally had his boyfriend right back where he wanted him. He squeezed the hand in his gratefully.

The apartment was notably different from the last time he had been there. For one, it seemed Tweek and Kenny had finally turned on the heat. Which was about time.

More noticeably, much of the interior had been replaced since the break-in. The television was new, and while the DVD collection was a lot smaller than it had been, Craig noted a great deal of interesting titles and even a few games.

He didn't have much time to take it all in. They headed straight for Tweek's room as soon as they were out of their coats. While he might be damn near starvation, he literally couldn't bear another minute of not seeing his pets when he knew they were right _there_.

The hungry part of him wondered if maybe he should just ask Tweek to get them some food while he was getting reacquainted with the guinea pigs. He discarded the idea immediately as he quickly concluded that he couldn't bear being apart from his boyfriend either. Tweek must have felt the same because he graciously allowed Craig to drag him by the hand straight to the floor where the cage sat waiting for them.

Craig opened the top as well he could with only one hand, and made some noise by gently pushing the substrate around the cage floor. Immediately, Gwen's fat little face appeared from the window of the little house they slept in. She squealed loudly at the intrusion and promptly went to investigate the noise. Craig carefully lifted her from the cage and sat her on his lap.

"Hey gorgeous," he cooed happily.

She squealed back at him, and he stroked her coarse fur lovingly. The excitement of seeing her little face again was almost unbearable. While he wasn't entirely able to take his eyes off the chubby piggy in his lap, he was still vaguely aware of Tweek leaning over the cage next to him. When he sat back, Craig saw he had retrieved his guinea pig namesake. Craig stroked Guinea Pig-Tweek's shaggy blond fur briefly in greeting before returning his attention to the squiggling body in his lap.

They each sat with a guinea pig in comfortable silence for a long while, Tweek leaning against side and snuggling his face into his shoulder every once in a while. Craig couldn't remember the last time he had been this content or happy. To his frustration, his stomach complained loudly enough to ruin the moment again. Tweek giggled.

"Alright, I can take a hint," he said and put Guinea Pig-Tweek back in her cage. He turned to Craig, taking in the way he cuddled Gwen with a fond smile.

"You can just bring her into the kitchen if you want," he teased. "If being apart is too unbearable for you."

"I'm taking you up on that," Craig answered.

He had no shame when it came to his pets, and he carefully rose to his feet with Gwen cradled to his chest. She squealed in annoyance, but settled easily enough against his shirt. When they entered the kitchen, Tweek fished a baby carrot out of a plastic bag in the fridge and handed it to Craig.

"Make it worth her while, though," he said with a lopsided smile. Craig planted a grateful kiss on his lips before accepting the carrot. Tweek pushed a chair towards him so he had a place to sit and could prevent Gwen from climbing up his chest. Regardless of how cute it was to have her perched on his shoulder, it was highly impractical. Guinea pigs were not the most graceful members of the rodent family. They fell.

While continuing to contentedly pet Gwen, Craig watched in fascination as Tweek pulled a variety of ingredients from the fridge and the cabinets and started putting an actual meal together in a pan.

"You cook now?" he asked, both curious and weirdly proud.

Tweek laughed embarrassedly. "Yeah, I guess I do," he answered, scratching the back of his neck. "It's way cheaper."

Craig smiled again while watching Tweek stir vegetables and noodles together. Every now and then, Tweek would turn around, as if he needed to make sure he was still there. Craig found that he was equally afraid to take his eyes off Tweek's back for the same reason.

He also hadn't quite been able to shake the initial sadness that had followed Tweek revealing his reasons for believing Cartman. It pained him to hear that Tweek still didn't think himself worthy of someone's love and loyalty. He knew his boyfriend dealt with a lot of insecurities, but it was still heartbreaking to hear him outright confess that he was pretty much just waiting for Craig to leave him for someone else. Craig mentally made a note to make sure he verbally disproved every one of those insecurities as often as possible in the future.

Once the meal was finished, Craig walked Gwen back to the cage and flashed both his pets an affectionate smile before trudging back to the kitchen. He was pleasantly surprised to see how neat their cage was, even if he had never doubted that Tweek would take excellent care of them.

The food was surprisingly delicious, even if he did eat it far too quickly. Regardless of how much they probably ought to have spent dinner talking things out and catching up, they both gulped down their meal hurriedly, hardly chewing even a single bite properly.

The second their plates were empty, Tweek got up to clean up after them. Craig helped him do the dishes, hands lingering on Tweek's a little too long every time he took a newly washed item from his hands. Somehow they managed to do the whole thing without once taking their eyes off each other. The plates were probably not as clean as they could have been.

It all seemed a little too good to be true. Craig half expected this whole thing to be a dream, and Tweek would vanish into thin air the second he looked away. He definitely wasn't taking any chances.

"How are things with work?" Craig asked after noticing how many of the stolen things Tweek and Kenny seemed to have replaced already.

"Better," Tweek answered with a guilty-looking shrug. "I've stopped taking extra shifts."

Craig held his breath. That definitely seemed too good to be true. "Really?"

Tweek nodded and gave him an insecure smile. "It was way too much stress for me," he said. "It's not worth it."

Craig smiled with relief. If Tweek wasn't working himself to death anymore, that meant a lot less stress and anxiety. Not to mention more time for Craig. He liked that.

He took Tweek's hand and squeezed it. "That's amazing," he said.

Tweek beamed at the approval and gently pulled at their joined hands to get Craig to follow him into his room where they sat down on his bed to watch the guinea pigs chasing each other around the cage. Craig hadn't expected to be this pleased to see that Tweek had purchased an extra pillow since the last time he stayed over. It was as long overdue as turning on the heat.

"What about you?" Tweek asked. "How's work going? I mean, aside from… well."

Craig snorted. "Surprisingly well, actually," he admitted. "I'm sorta getting promoted."

Tweek blinked. "What? Really?" he said. "Dude, that's fantastic!"

Craig laughed a little, running his free hand through his hair embarrassedly. "I guess."

Tweek leaned into his side and encased the hand he was already holding with his other hand and clutched it to his chest. Craig eyed the top of his head affectionately.

"I knew you'd get good at it," Tweek insisted. Then he snorted. "Even if you're still wearing the ugliest shirt in the entire universe."

Craig laughed, and Tweek burrowed his face in Craig's shoulder in a weird mix of affection and appreciation for the shirt he had changed into before heading out to meet Tweek.

"Stop hating on my shirt," Craig said, pretending to be offended. "It's so scared of you, I had to take time to change shirts before meeting with you tonight."

Tweek clutched a fistful of Craig's shirt with a grin before letting it go and smoothing his palm out across Craig's chest, resting it just above his rapidly beating heart.

"The day you stop working there, we're burning it," Tweek murmured.

"Actually, they make you return the shirt," Craig said with no small amount of disappointment. No doubt that would have been a cathartic end to his carrier in retail. Tweek made a small noise of disapproval. Craig pictured Tweek telling his boss he had burned the shirt anyway and snickered.

"Sorry. I love you, but you won't survive standing up to the wrath of Helen."

Tweek laughed along with him, but Craig noticed the way his eyes sparkled at the sound of those magic three words. So he leaned down to place a soft kiss on his lips before saying them again.

"I love you," he repeated. Tweek smiled broadly and reached up to kiss him back.

"I love you too," he whispered against his lips passionately. Craig allowed Tweek to gently push him down onto his back on the bed and moving on top of him.

Meanwhile he found a great deal of satisfaction in mapping out the inside of Tweek's mouth. Logically, they hadn't been apart for a very long time compared to how many years they had been together, but he still felt it necessary to reclaim every bit of Tweek's mouth with his tongue as if to reestablish ownership. Tweek allowed him to explore, melting into his body and raking his fingers through Craig's hair.

Just when he was about to lose himself to the mood, Craig thought he heard a noise and pulled away to look warily at the bedroom door.

"Kenny's not coming home tonight," Tweek answered the unvoiced question with a crooked smile. Craig smiled in relief. He and Kenny might be sort of friends now, but this really was a private affair.

He returned to Tweek's lips while moving one hand to the small of his back to keep him pressed close against him. Despite them having just eaten, Craig still only tasted coffee on Tweek's tongue and the realization made him smile and pull back from the kiss again.

"I really missed you," he muttered, tenderly staring up into Tweek's wide brown eyes.

Tweek grinned and used his top position to his advantage, moving his mouth down Craig's neck.

"I missed you too," he managed in between the kisses he was showering over the heated skin on Craig's neck and jaw. Craig shivered at the sensation of Tweek's lips traveling across his skin. He almost regretted his initial approval of the newly present heating in the apartment. It was far too hot all of a sudden.

He slid his hands under Tweek's shirt, pushing the fabric up until Tweek took the hint and pulled back from his neck to take the shirt all the rest of the way off.

Craig flipped them over, putting himself on top where he could more easily remove his own shirt. The movement brought their dicks to collide with each other, and Tweek moaned at the contact, looking up at him with pupils so dilated his eyes looked completely black. It was the most beautiful thing Craig had seen in weeks.

He gently brushed his fingers across his boyfriends reddening cheekbones as he took in the sight of the boy beneath him. Tweek leaned up to meet him for another kiss. The blond brushed Craig's hipbone gently with his right thumb before unbuttoning and unzipping both of their jeans. Craig sighed into Tweek's mouth when he figured he wound have to get off him if they were ever realistically going to remove of their pants.

So he did, pushing himself off Tweek to awkwardly kick his way out of his own jeans and then assist his boyfriend in doing the same.

Tweek sat up slightly to push his own boxers off his body, and Craig watched in silent appreciation until the boy sent him an impatient look that made him remember he was still in his underwear.

He was about to randomly toss the last piece of clothing to the floor when he remembered the last time he had thought that to be a good idea. He aimed away from the guinea pigs' cage this time.

Tweek giggled knowingly at him, so he pressed him down onto the mattress again to shut him up, playfully nibbling at the junction between his neck and shoulder. Moving his lips up Tweek's neck, he could feel his pulse and how rapid it was.

It hadn't fully dawned on Craig how close he needed to be to Tweek until they were pressed together, nothing separating them except their heated skin. All he needed was to be so close that they would practically be one, so that nothing could ever physically tear them apart again.

Tweek must have felt something similar. He whined in complaint when Craig moved away slightly to adjust into a more comfortable position, and wound his legs tightly around Craig's hips to drag him down closer to him.

The shift caused their erections to meet again, this time without any barriers of clothing between then. From the goose bumps rising all over his skin, Craig already knew he didn't have the patience for some drawn out session of preparation and build up.

He rolled his hips against Tweek's and watched him close his eyes with groan. A small voice in the back of his mind protested his decision to rush since he could honestly spend the entire night watching that face. The overall sense of urgency to reunite was stronger, though, and instead he built up a steady rhythm of grinding against the body beneath him.

Tweek gasped loudly into his ear as Craig wrapped a palm around them both. Craig nearly lost his balance at the sound. He never wanted to be apart from that sound again. He would sooner chain himself to Tweek than risk never hearing it again.

He stroked them both and watched Tweek throw his head back into the pillow with a high-pitch moan. Something occurred to him.

"You're really beautiful," he said, angry with himself for never having explicitly told him that before. Tweek's eyes opened to meet his and accompany a skeptical arched eyebrow.

"I'm not, though," Tweek countered breathlessly. Craig quickly shut him up with a kiss. He absolutely wasn't having that.

"Don't fight me on this," he spoke against Tweek's lips. "You are."

To prevent Tweek from arguing, he quickened his stroking and caught Tweek's answering groan with his mouth. Tweek arched off the bed with a gasp, allowing for just enough room for Craig to slip his free arm around his waist.

The feeling of holding Tweek against him combined with the look of pleasure on his tired face was almost too much to handle in itself. These last few days, he had been so low he had almost been ready to accept that he might never have Tweek in his arms again. Actually having him - hearing him, seeing him, feeling him - his heart might just burst out of his chest from pure bliss.

His body shuddered as he came over his hand and their stomachs. It would have been amazing to think this could have lasted forever, in a perfect reunion, but they really had been apart for longer than his body considered acceptable.

He let go of himself and put his best efforts into focusing solely on Tweek until his boyfriend followed him over the edge with a throaty moan.

He wiped his hands off on the clean-looking sheets and flashed Tweek an apologetic smile for the mess.

"Sorry for the laundry."

Tweek laughed breathily, still trying to catch his breath. He caressed Craig's cheek affectionately.

"I'll forgive you this one time."

Craig laughed and leaned into the palm on his face. When he had caught his breath and was finally mentally able to be worried about crushing Tweek under his weight, he shifted off his boyfriend to lie next to him on the bed.

Tweek quickly rolled halfway over him to nuzzle his face into his neck. Craig eyed the apparently unneeded extra new pillow on the other side of the bed and pulled Tweek tight against him. Right now, they shouldn't be far enough apart to need two pillows, he though. It might come in handy on other sleepover occasions, though.

The more he came down from his high, the more he wondered about the surreal nature of how quickly things had turned around for the better. Lying in that very room, with Tweek lying half on top of him, it was almost like nothing had changed from the way they had been before Cartman's meddling.

Thinking of how their relationship had been before instantly made him remembered all the times Tweek had send him away and insisted on being alone for the sake of proving himself.

"Are you gonna ask me to leave again?" he asked Tweek, only half jokingly. "I mean, do you still think need to learn to be alone?"

Tweek looked up at him with loving but pensive eyes. Craig wished he could see what was happening behind them. Then Tweek shook his head slowly and placed a kiss on Craig's bare chest.

"No," he said confidently. "I think I'm done being alone for now."


	17. Epilogue - 8 Months Later

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: EPILOGUE

Tweek woke him up at seven. He had been awake for hours already.

During the warm months of summer, it was rarely possible for Craig to sleep through the whole night. This was particularly the case when he spent the night in Tweek's room. Eastbound and poorly isolated, the room was a sauna.

However, since this particular August morning was kind of a big day, he probably wouldn't have slept well even if it had still been springtime. Craig had been slowly returning to the conscious world for a while, calmly listening to his boyfriend trod around the room and pack the last few things away.

Said boyfriend did not have much patience for him at this time.

"You need to get up now," Tweek said, mercilessly pouncing on him to get his attention and prevent him from falling asleep. "Everyone's gonna be here soon."

Craig grunted in response, and Tweek leaned down to place a quick kiss on his nose before getting off him.

Craig obediently rolled off the frameless mattress the second Tweek got off his back. Under normal circumstances, being awakened this early would put him in a foul mood, especially after a night of poor sleep. But not today. He had been counting down to this day for weeks.

"Who's Clyde talking to?" he asked when he noticed the loud conversation emitting from the living room.

"Vicky. She just got here," Tweek answered and threw him a shirt. "You better hurry up before Clyde's flirting makes her leave again."

Craig nodded and put the shirt over his head before tiredly searching the room for his jeans. It was challenging, but he finally found them behind the largest pile of cardboard boxes.

When he emerged from the room, Clyde and Kenny were entertaining Vicky on the couch while Tweek moved around the kitchen to make breakfast. Craig could barely make out the three people on the couch from all of Clyde's boxes taking up the floor space surrounding it. Vicky caught sight of him quickly, though, and acknowledged his presence with a big smile.

"Good morning," she greeted him. Kenny and Clyde peered around the boxes and cheered.

"Heeey! Look who's finally up!" Clyde exclaimed.

Kenny snorted. "Like you would have been up yet if you hadn't been sleeping right in the middle of the living room," he teased.

"Probably not," Clyde laughed and turned his attention back to Craig. "Ready for the big moving day?"

"Of course," Craig said with a happy smile and strode to the kitchen area to take the plate of food Tweek was holding out to him. Tweek began biting his nails the moment he had his hand free. He must still be a little anxious about moving, Craig guessed and grabbed the hand so he couldn't bite the nails anymore.

"It'll be fine," he reassured Tweek while soothingly stroking the back the boy's hand with his thumb. Tweek said nothing, but smiled at the gesture.

The pair sat down by the table, just a few feet away from the couch, but so heavily surrounded by boxes it might as well had been a private island.

The apartment was a maze. That was of course to be expected when you combined the boxes of three different people's belongings, but it was still kind of a pain, and it made moving around very tricky. Thankfully, it wouldn't be a problem for much longer.

Today was the day Tweek and Craig finally moved into their new apartment. They had officially decided to live together on Christmas Eve, but it had taken them months to find a place they could afford on their combined paychecks. When they eventually found one not too far from Kenny's place, they jumped at the chance.

Craig had temporarily moved into Tweek and Kenny's apartment a week earlier when he had come back from visiting his family in South Park. They hadn't really considered it an issue that he would have to take all of his boxes with him. The plan had been to just stack them on top of Tweek's boxes. Easy.

Unfortunately, during their time back home, Clyde and Bebe had broken up, rendering Clyde homeless. It was lucky Clyde had the option of taking Tweek's room, but since Tweek (and subsequently Craig) hadn't actually moved out yet, Clyde couldn't unpack.

He probably wouldn't have fully unpacked for months, regardless, but right now he had no choice but to stay on the couch, in the center of a fort build from his belongings. At least until Tweek and Craig left and he could finally move his things into the room.

Tweek had been so stressed about having Clyde's boxed mixed in between his own. He had anxiously worried they would accidentally take some of Clyde things and leave behind their own. Craig didn't really see the big issue with that, but being the problem solver that he was, he had color-coded every box in the apartment. Red sticker - don't take.

"How much time do we have?" Craig asked as he chewed the omelet Tweek had cooked for them. Tweek learning to cook had come with a lot of perks for him. He had been impressed with the boy's baking skills since they were kids, but now that Craig had access to regular home-cooked meals, he was honestly so proud of how well Tweek had adjusted to adult life.

"Kyle said they would be here in about…" Tweek eyed the time on his phone, "… ten minutes."

"I'm so excited to see your new place," Vicky said and snaked her way through the maze to sit by the table with them. Clyde looked mildly displeased to see her leave. Craig sent him a warning look.

"It's really great," Tweek said with a smile. He nudged Craig's foot under the table. "We moved the guinea pigs in last night."

"Aw, that's great," Vicky smiled. "That's probably less stressful for them."

Craig nodded. He was anxious to see them and had spent the greater part of the night worrying about them. The water bottle could be leaking, or have fallen down. Or one of them could have fallen sick and no one would have been around to notice. _His poor babies_.

The intercom buzzed, and Kenny swiftly got up to answer. He was the only one seemingly unbothered by all the new obstacles in his path. Maybe it was easier if you had waiting experience. When he opened the front door Craig could hear Stan and Kyle's bickering echo up the stairs.

"All I'm saying is that it's just not scientifically accurate to-"

"Hey, guys!" Kenny interrupted Kyle merrily, earning him a relieved look from Stan. "Come in, come in!"

Stan patted Kenny on the back in a friendly greeting before walking as straight towards Craig and Tweek as was physically possible with all the boxes. "We parked the truck right downstairs. Everyone ready to start soon?"

Craig nodded, and Tweek made a nervous but confirming sound while swallowing the last bite of his breakfast. Everyone looked to Clyde who was still sitting on the couch in the clothes he had slept in. He grinned sheepishly and jumped off the cushions.

"Alright, alright. Gimme two minutes," he said and locked himself in the bathroom.

"Figures," Kyle muttered and struggled his way out of the hug Kenny had trapped him in before entering the apartment and offering Vicky his hand politely.

"Hi, I'm Kyle," he introduced himself before pointing to Stan who was eating the leftovers directly off the kitchen counter. "And the slob over there is Stan."

"I'm Vicky. I work with Tweek," she answered and took the offered hand. "Nice to meet you."

As if encouraged to speed up by the sound of Vicky interacting with another guy, Clyde burst out of the bathroom fully clothed.

"Ready!" he declared with his toothbrush still sticking out of his mouth. "Let's move some shit!"

O – O – o – O – O – o

With seven people in their moving crew, they managed to move all the boxes and furniture out of Kenny's apartment in less than an hour. When they pulled the truck to a stop in front of their new place, Token was waiting for them by the building's front door.

Clyde was the first out of the truck. He darted across the street to jump Token with an overly enthusiastic hug.

"See. I told you he couldn't bear living without me," Token teased with a grin as the others made their way to him.

Craig offered him in a quick one-armed hug before unlocking the door and hurrying up to his pets. It wasn't that he wasn't excited about seeing his friend for the first time in almost a year. He just had his priorities sorted.

When he was sufficiently reassured Gwen and Guinea Pig-Tweek were both well and happy in their new, and much bigger, cage, he headed back down to the street to assist the others in moving boxes upstairs, and give Token a proper welcome.

Logically, adding yet another person to their crew ought to mean they would be done in no time at all, but such was not the case. Token showing up significantly slowed down Clyde and Tweek who were both eager to catch up with him.

Eventually though, they made it up with the last items in the truck. They hadn't purchased any chairs yet, so all of his old classmates took to sitting around on the floor between the boxes; exhaustedly complaining about the heat while Vicky and Tweek unpacked the kitchen.

Craig would have loved to join either group, but settled for doing some practical work on his own. They couldn't very well unpack in rooms that were dirty, he thought, and winced when he realized it was his mother's voice he had just heard inside his head.

When he was finally done cleaning their new bathroom, he ordered pizza for everyone to thank them for helping out. He couldn't even fathom having to move all of those boxes just him and Tweek. This moving might have taken the crew a couple of hours, but had it been just the two of them, they would still be at it when the sun went down.

When the food arrived, Craig, Tweek and Vicky joined the rest of the gang on the floor in time to hear Clyde brag about the crazy single life he was about to embark on.

Life was weirdly circular sometimes, Craig thought as he looked around his friends munching on pizza slices. It simultaneously felt like yesterday _and_ ten years ago they had last sat together, eating pizza and wondering about the future. He looked at Tweek sitting next to him and noticed that he was watching the others with a nostalgic look too.

Kenny's phone rang in the middle of him telling Token about Clyde becoming his roommate. Once he saw who was calling him, he quickly left the room to answer without offering any excuse or explanation.

"Sorry to hear about you and Bebe," Token told Clyde.

Clyde shrugged casually, but his eyes were vacant for a moment before he managed to recover and put on a big smile.

"Don't worry about it. Honestly, this is the best thing that could happen to me," he said with forged enthusiasm. "Finally gonna get that wild, partying college life with my new roomie!"

Craig had to put in a lot of effort to stop a snort from coming out. Tweek didn't even bother holding his back. They both waved their hand dismissively when Clyde sent them a quizzical look. He would learn soon enough that Kenny by no means was the ever-partying guy he had been in high school. Kenny had bills and a fulltime job.

When Kenny returned to the room, he wore a humongous smile on his face. It was contagious enough to make Craig wonder if he had to inquire about the reason behind it.

"What's up, Ken?" Stan asked, beating Craig to it.

"It's official," Kenny announced dramatically. "Eric Cartman is going to prison!"

The room flooded with everyone's immediate reactions of joy and relief.

It was about time the sociopath was put behind bars. Craig also couldn't deny that the message took a great deal of his worries away from him. He had been deeply concerned about what Cartman was up to. Especially seeing as Cartman's last scheme to have someone follow Craig around with a camera had nearly cost him his relationship.

He slid an arm around Tweek's shoulder and placed a kiss on top of his blond head. He was never letting anything take that boy away from him again.

"He was found guilty on all charges. He'll be locked up for a _long_ time," Kenny said with a pleased grin. Clyde woo-ed around the pizza slice in his mouth.

"As well he should," Kyle said while casually leaning on the shoulder of Stan who nodded in agreement. Craig still found it funny how almost nothing had changed in their way of acting around each other since they began dating. He supposed it spoke volumes of their closeness before.

"I feel bad for his mom, though," Tweek said, looking a little distraught at the thought. Craig squeezed his shoulder and kissed the top of his head again. It was sweet that Tweek cared. A part of Craig still felt like Liane Cartman had to be assigned at least some of the blame for the way her son turned out.

"Don't worry. My mom already started a support group for her," Kyle said and rolled his eyes at his mother's activism. The movement must have brought the surface of Stan's watch into view because he immediately frowned and nudged at Stan while gesturing towards the time. Stan's eyes widened.

"Ah, shit," Stan muttered and quickly jumped to his feet along with Kyle. "Sorry, guys. We have to leave now if we're gonna get back to South Park in time to return the truck."

Tweek and Craig both rose to their feet as well to walk them to the front door.

"No problem. Thanks so much for helping out today," Tweek said. He elbowed Craig.

"Yeah. Thanks a lot," Craig said, remembering his manners and hoping his naturally flat voice didn't make it sound sarcastic. He could have used his customer service voice, but these people knew him too well to fall for it. He hoped they also knew him well enough to recognize when he was being sincere.

Stan grinned and patted him on the back. "No problem, ex-roomie. Good luck with your new place," he said with a wink.

Craig smiled too. It was going to be weird not having Stan sleep 14 feet away from him. He hated to admit it, but despite Craig's initial frustration Stan had turned out to be a pretty decent roommate.

Stan and Kyle waved their goodbyes to the rest of the gang and left holding hands. Tweek and Craig returned to the floor to their remaining guests. Almost everyone resumed the conversation about how much Cartman deserved to go to prison except for Token who continued to eye the door his old classmates had left through.

"Is it true what I heard back home?" he asked. "Those two are dating now?"

"Yep," Kenny answered with a proud grin. No one was as much a supporter of that relationship as he was. Probably not even the boys in question themselves. "Have been for about eight months now."

"Huh," Token said and raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's about time. They've been circling each other for years."

Kenny and Clyde burst out laughing.

"Dude, I'm honestly amazed you hadn't heard yet," Clyde said through a fit of chuckles. "Like he said. Eight months!"

"Give me a break, man," Token said, faux defensive. "I was in California for the majority of those."

Clyde snorted. "And whose fault was that. _Traitor_."

"Don't you start that again," Token warned with a laugh. "You can't still have abandonment issues over that."

"I most definitely can, Token the Abandoner," Clyde retorted and threw a dry chunk of pizza crust at him. "I hope you're having fun on your California adventure while the rest of us freeze our asses off all winter."

Craig couldn't keep from smiling at their antics. It was like going back in time and sitting between them in the cafeteria of their high school again. Tweek snuggled up against his side, nudging at him to move his arm back around him. Craig was well trained and did as requested. He nuzzled his nose into Tweek's hair until he realized he was being watched. Kenny flashed him a teasing smirk before getting to his feet.

"Well, I think it's about time for me to head home too," he announced with a tired stretch. He glanced at Token and Clyde. "You guys ready to head back?"

They both looked mildly displeased to have been interrupted mid-banter but nodded in agreement nonetheless. Token had agreed to spend the night in Kenny's apartment, partly so he wouldn't have to drive all the way back to South Park, and partly because Clyde had pestered him into hanging out with him for a few days.

Once more, Craig and Tweek walked their friends to the door, thanking them for helping out. Kenny bowed a formal farewell to Vicky and forced a goodbye hug on Tweek and Craig before finally following the bickering duo outside.

Vicky had risen to her feet when they turned back to their living room. She was digging passionately through her purse and eventually fished out a small package.

"Now, I know for a fact that you've probably made at least a thousand lists of things you needed for your new home," she said with a knowing smile in Tweek's direction. Craig snickered and Tweek blushed embarrassedly. They had fourteen _to-buy_ and _to-do_ lists in a box somewhere.

"So, I wanted to give you a little housewarming gift that you don't actually _need_ , but I hope you'll like anyways," she said, nervously tucking a lock of hair behind her ear while handing Tweek the present.

"Thanks, Vic. You didn't have to," Tweek said and opened the present with Craig curiously hovering over his shoulder with his arms around Tweek's waist. Inside the package was a beautifully framed photo of Craig and Tweek from her birthday party a few months earlier. The two of them were cuddled up on her couch, seemingly in the middle of laughing at something hilarious.

Craig smiled fondly at the obvious love and affection radiating off them. A homemade frame full of coffee beans protected the picture, like a little homage to the café that brought Vicky into their lives.

"Thank you," he said genuinely. "This is perfect."

She flashed him a pleased smile while Tweek agreed. "It really is. Thank you so much for this!"

"I'm glad you like it," she smiled and let Tweek hug her.

Craig hadn't known what to make of the girl initially. Obviously he had been pleased Tweek had made a friend at work, but it had also worried him that she had known them mostly through the most difficult months of their relationship. He had worried a great deal about what she thought of him based exclusively on those months.

Upon meeting her, all of his concerns had vanished. If she had a problem with him, she hid it immensely well. Mostly she just seemed happy when Tweek was happy. She also had a seemingly endless patience and understanding for Tweek's anxiety. This meant that for once Craig had an ally who could be there for his boyfriend when he couldn't. That made her invaluable, and he was grateful to have her around.

"Well, I should get going too," she said and pulled her purse strap over her shoulder. She gave each of them a tight hug.

"Congratulations again," she said. "I'm so happy for you."

They watched her disappear down the stairwell and didn't back away from the threshold until they heard the sound of the front door closing behind her.

When they turned back to the mess of boxes that was their new home, Tweek let out an exhausted sigh. Craig rubbed his back comfortingly and eyed the packages containing their new couch, a gift from his parents. He made the executive decision they had to put it together before going to sleep. But not necessarily right now.

"30 minute break first?" he asked.

"Yes, please," Tweek agreed.

They dropped back down to the floor and checked their phones for the first time that day. Tweek's dad had tried to call both of them several times, once more proving himself way more invested in their relationship than they were ever going to be comfortable with.

Craig's boss Helen had left a single message about whether he would be able to come in an hour earlier for his next shift. He texted her back immediately.

The last couple of months had been interesting at work. As promised, Helen had given him more tasks and responsibilities, and that made going to work a lot more exciting.

He still didn't care much for retail, though. While he might have finally mastered the art of not flipping customers off, he still didn't need the exasperation that came from working so directly with other human beings.

Despite his general hatred for mankind, he had actually managed to get along pretty well with the coworkers on his new work schedule. It was a lot more fun to work when he knew he had a crew of tolerable people to spend the shifts with.

When Craig glanced up after replying to Helen's text, Tweek rose with a tired groan.

"I'm just gonna make sure the piggies have food and water," he said when Craig opened his mouth to inquire about the sudden movement. Craig smiled. He loved that Tweek cared about the pets.

He watched him leave the room before returning his gaze to the phone in his hand. Warren had texted him a few weeks earlier. Craig hadn't even wanted to open the text, but he was somewhat glad he did.

Warren had actually wanted to apologies for his behavior. He was seeing someone else now and had felt the need to apologize for not taking Craig's relationship with Tweek seriously enough to know when to back off. Craig had accepted the apology. After showing the message to Tweek.

When Tweek returned to the room he didn't sit back down on the floor next to Craig. Instead he looked from Craig to the boxes with a frown.

"Can we just put the couch together now and call it a day?" he asked.

"Sure," Craig smiled and let Tweek pull him to his feet.

They unboxed the couch and put it together piece by piece until they had an actual usable piece of furniture. Then, despite their initial agreement to end the effort there, they pushed the console desk up to the wall across from the newly assembled couch and began setting up the TV along with Craig's Xbox.

"Finally!" Tweek cheered from the couch when Craig managed to install the channels correctly on the TV.

Craig dangled the remote with a proud smirk. "TV works. We're officially moved in," he said before trudging over to plunge himself down on the new couch. More specifically, on top of the boyfriend already lying there. Call it revenge from his awakening that morning.

Tweek whined in complaint under the weight of his body, so he kissed him apologetically and shifted to lie behind him with his chest pressed against his boyfriend's back. It was a surprisingly spacious couch. Craig supposed it would come in handy in the future.

"So that was it then," Tweek muttered, and Craig could tell from the sound of his voice he was smiling. "We're officially living together."

"Yeah. We are," Craig answered, feeling the happiness bubbling in his chest at the prospect.

He glanced over Tweek to take in their surroundings. Weird as it seemed, this was his home now. He put an arm over Tweek and burrowed his face into the back of his neck. It was _their_ home now.

He imagined all the times they would get to spend together, just the two of them alone. No matter how busy their individual schedules might be, from then on they would still get to see each other every single day, and nothing could match how grateful that thought made him.

He hugged Tweek tight against his chest. While he was not enjoying the process of turning into a functioning adult, he was very much looking forward to growing older together with Tweek.


End file.
